thedrifter
04-02-03, 10:48 PM
Apr 2, 11:10 PM EST
Military Town Protests Can Be Lonely
By ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press Writer
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Being a war protester in a military town can be pretty lonely.
At a recent peace rally, the crowd on the traffic circle across from city hall hovered between six and a dozen, barely outnumbering the officers stationed there to protect them.
But in some respects, it's remarkable they had that many.
Fayetteville is host to Fort Bragg, home to the famed 82nd Airborne Division and the Army Special Operations Command. With 45,000 soldiers and dependents stationed hereabouts, this is a town awash in olive drab and red-white-and-blue, a town where billboards ask God to "bless our troops" and the air is filled with the slap of fluttering American flags and the rustle of yellow-ribbon-ringed trees.
When bombs started falling on Baghdad last month, about 1,500 people turned out to cheer the soldiers, not jeer them.
In Fayetteville, said Quaker House director Chuck Fager, anti-war protesters have become accustomed to a delicate tap dance. He makes it a point not to plaster his car with anti-war bumper stickers, and he goes out of his way to say that he supports the troops, even though he's against the war.
"I personally don't feel unsafe from day to day," said Fager, whose organization counsels soldiers and has helped stage peace protests.
"But it's worth noting, and I'm continually reminded of the fact that, in 1970, the first Quaker House was firebombed in the middle of the night," he said, referring to a still-unsolved arson four days after a massive rally by Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
A rally Wednesday by about a dozen peace protesters was met by a boisterous counterdemonstration of more than 100. The event coincided with a visit by former President George H.W. Bush to nearby Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station.
At a rally Saturday by the group Women in Black, a passing motorist threw an empty plastic soda bottle at six demonstrators, prompting talk of canceling this Saturday's planned vigil. Group member Darlene Hopkins said these developments illustrate what she sees as a growing hostility toward the anti-war protesters.
"It's very much a struggle for me," said Hopkins, a psychologist and counselor at Methodist College who worked with soldiers returning from the first Gulf War. "I don't want to make anyone's pain worse, and yet I feel I have to tell the truth - that this war is not the answer."
As 19-year-old Drew Plummer hoisted a sign saying "Bring our troops home," a man in a white Volvo gave him the thumbs-down. Another shouted insults as he circled the tiny group gathered beneath the arches of Fayetteville's old slave market.
With his green Army shirt and multiple piercings, Plummer may have looked like just another peacenik. But in a few weeks, Petty Officer 3rd Class Plummer will report back to his job as a nuclear electrician's mate on the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower.
"I'm not a pacifist; I'll do my part," Plummer said the fourth-generation military man. "I just don't agree with what we're doing right now. ... I don't think our guys should be dying in Iraq."
Plummer joined the Navy to see the world, serve his country and earn a little money for college. He said he never dreamed he'd be helping wage a war he doesn't believe in, a war he thinks is all about money.
With Americans being killed and taken hostage, Plummer expected angry confrontations. Instead, he found some encouragement.
"Let me shake your hand, young man," Ashley Rozier II said to Plummer. "I knew there were some smart people around here."
But that doesn't translate into more people standing on the street corners.
City Councilwoman Anne Fogleman said it's a good thing she's not running for re-election. She's never protested before, and is uncomfortable doing so this close to a military base. But she just couldn't stay home this time.
"We've never been the bully," she said. "And all of a sudden the world hates us."
As a 13-year veteran of the 82nd Airborne who has worn the uniform in Saudi Arabia, Grenada, Panama and Honduras, Jeffery Portee thinks we should "support our country 100 percent." But he also thinks people should be allowed to protest anywhere they want.
"That's a double-bladed sword," he said as he passed by, shaking his head.
Lorraine Buttner served in the Army five years and left just before the first Gulf War. Her husband wore the uniform, too, and her son is in Korea right now. But there she was at a recent protest, holding a sign that asked, "How many lives per gallon?"
"Although we all hope that this war will be over rapidly, we'll be in the Middle East for a long time to come," she said. "And who knows what our president has in mind next?"
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Allen G. Breed is the AP's Southeast regional writer, based in Raleigh.
Sempers,
Roger
Military Town Protests Can Be Lonely
By ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press Writer
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Being a war protester in a military town can be pretty lonely.
At a recent peace rally, the crowd on the traffic circle across from city hall hovered between six and a dozen, barely outnumbering the officers stationed there to protect them.
But in some respects, it's remarkable they had that many.
Fayetteville is host to Fort Bragg, home to the famed 82nd Airborne Division and the Army Special Operations Command. With 45,000 soldiers and dependents stationed hereabouts, this is a town awash in olive drab and red-white-and-blue, a town where billboards ask God to "bless our troops" and the air is filled with the slap of fluttering American flags and the rustle of yellow-ribbon-ringed trees.
When bombs started falling on Baghdad last month, about 1,500 people turned out to cheer the soldiers, not jeer them.
In Fayetteville, said Quaker House director Chuck Fager, anti-war protesters have become accustomed to a delicate tap dance. He makes it a point not to plaster his car with anti-war bumper stickers, and he goes out of his way to say that he supports the troops, even though he's against the war.
"I personally don't feel unsafe from day to day," said Fager, whose organization counsels soldiers and has helped stage peace protests.
"But it's worth noting, and I'm continually reminded of the fact that, in 1970, the first Quaker House was firebombed in the middle of the night," he said, referring to a still-unsolved arson four days after a massive rally by Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
A rally Wednesday by about a dozen peace protesters was met by a boisterous counterdemonstration of more than 100. The event coincided with a visit by former President George H.W. Bush to nearby Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station.
At a rally Saturday by the group Women in Black, a passing motorist threw an empty plastic soda bottle at six demonstrators, prompting talk of canceling this Saturday's planned vigil. Group member Darlene Hopkins said these developments illustrate what she sees as a growing hostility toward the anti-war protesters.
"It's very much a struggle for me," said Hopkins, a psychologist and counselor at Methodist College who worked with soldiers returning from the first Gulf War. "I don't want to make anyone's pain worse, and yet I feel I have to tell the truth - that this war is not the answer."
As 19-year-old Drew Plummer hoisted a sign saying "Bring our troops home," a man in a white Volvo gave him the thumbs-down. Another shouted insults as he circled the tiny group gathered beneath the arches of Fayetteville's old slave market.
With his green Army shirt and multiple piercings, Plummer may have looked like just another peacenik. But in a few weeks, Petty Officer 3rd Class Plummer will report back to his job as a nuclear electrician's mate on the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower.
"I'm not a pacifist; I'll do my part," Plummer said the fourth-generation military man. "I just don't agree with what we're doing right now. ... I don't think our guys should be dying in Iraq."
Plummer joined the Navy to see the world, serve his country and earn a little money for college. He said he never dreamed he'd be helping wage a war he doesn't believe in, a war he thinks is all about money.
With Americans being killed and taken hostage, Plummer expected angry confrontations. Instead, he found some encouragement.
"Let me shake your hand, young man," Ashley Rozier II said to Plummer. "I knew there were some smart people around here."
But that doesn't translate into more people standing on the street corners.
City Councilwoman Anne Fogleman said it's a good thing she's not running for re-election. She's never protested before, and is uncomfortable doing so this close to a military base. But she just couldn't stay home this time.
"We've never been the bully," she said. "And all of a sudden the world hates us."
As a 13-year veteran of the 82nd Airborne who has worn the uniform in Saudi Arabia, Grenada, Panama and Honduras, Jeffery Portee thinks we should "support our country 100 percent." But he also thinks people should be allowed to protest anywhere they want.
"That's a double-bladed sword," he said as he passed by, shaking his head.
Lorraine Buttner served in the Army five years and left just before the first Gulf War. Her husband wore the uniform, too, and her son is in Korea right now. But there she was at a recent protest, holding a sign that asked, "How many lives per gallon?"
"Although we all hope that this war will be over rapidly, we'll be in the Middle East for a long time to come," she said. "And who knows what our president has in mind next?"
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Allen G. Breed is the AP's Southeast regional writer, based in Raleigh.
Sempers,
Roger