The author takes her young daughter to the Chelsea Community Fair. While the author finds summer fairs stressful due to bad experiences as a child, her daughter enjoys some aspects of the fair, such as eating fried dough. However, they both particularly enjoy escaping to the bookstore at the fair. The author hopes creating positive memories at small community fairs will shape her daughter's views of such events differently than her own childhood experiences at larger and more dangerous festivals.

1. Confessions of a death culler
Good Friday 2005. Enough! website
S
ome stories I didn’t use at first because there
wasn’t much to them. Many of the dead were so
E
very morning I update the deaths on this
young that nothing much was reported about
website. First I check the Iraqi Coalition
them in the media—except football positions and,
Casualties site to see how many died the day
most often, how proud they were to have signed up
before. Then I click on Fatality Details. Up come the
for the military.
names of the dead.
I’ve changed my mind. I use them now if only to
All of them. More than 1,700 now.
emphasize their youth—and their waste. And stressing
Each has a DoD report: name, rank, base,
this waste is the point of “culling the dead.”
hometown, date and cause of death—hostile or non-
Yes, that’s what I said: waste. Tell me all you want
hostile. Sometimes there are “news items,” links to
media stories of the dead. that their deaths are honorable, you’re wasting your
Sometimes there are no items. I’m not sure why. breath as much as we wasted theirs. Their lives were
Maybe the local media honorable, their
don’t report their stories. commitment to what they
Maybe the webmasters believed was honorable,
don’t “google” the names their courage was
that day. honorable.
But I google a lot of the Their deaths are not
names myself. Up come the honorable simply because
stories of the dead. they died in a war. And this
Husbands, fiancés, war is not honorable—if
sisters, sons, daughters, there even is such a thing—
and—worst of all—fathers simply because honorable
and mothers. Every people died.
morning I can’t help but
B
ache for the children of ut we are now
these KIA—especially the arguing fiercely, left
littles, the ones who will and right, that the
only vaguely remember war must be honorable, for
Daddy, the ones who will if it is not then our dead are
feel but not understand the disgraced. This is
loss of Mama. The babies, backward. The war doesn’t
too. Most will not remember anything about their confer honor. Their honor came from their inherent
fathers. Some never met them. precious life, from the fact that they were brave and
loved, that they died doing something they believed
I
was important. They are not dishonored because they
choose the stories that break my heart. I write
died in a dishonorable war.
them to break yours. Unabashedly, I pick out the
Despite their ultimate sacrifice, it is still an
details that make the deaths real—grieving wives,
unconscionable fiasco, a colossal error in judgment, a
screaming mothers, weeping fathers. I write of
massive manipulation of the American citizenry—and
soldiers who give toys to Iraqi children, soldiers who
a fools’ errand with none of the fools who got us into
leave their infants with the promise to return, who
this actually sacrificing anything. And it must be
marry hours before they’re deployed, who are killed
stopped.
mere days from the end of their tour.
This is why I cull the death stories. To make us
What amazes me is how many families are
aware: these are not casualties, they are not statistics.
surprised about their loved ones’ deaths. Um, folks?
They are fathers and husbands, mothers and wives,
It’s a war. That’s what happens. Indeed, it’s the point.
sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters.
So why would you believe your loved one is exempt?
And I wonder, of all these honorable now-dead
“There are 150,000 kids over there,” Daniel
Gresham’s father, Gene Gresham, said in a local men and women, whom have we killed? Who would
newspaper story. “Twelve hundred of them have they have become? Future architects of peace?
died. Who would have guessed one of them would Statesmen and women? Or perhaps explorers and
be mine?” scientists, discoverers of cures of our ailments, or
The story continues: “Gresham said the family is parents of children who may be crippled emotionally
having a tough time dealing with the tragedy since and never become what they could have been.
learning on Thursday about the soldier’s death. ‘We’re Hell, maybe we even killed the messiah. Again.
all devastated. I haven’t stopped crying since I heard A Good Friday to you.
it,’ said Gresham.” ©2005 CMDay

2. RS
WINNE
Kitchen Makeover
Nic Sims and David Myers are
enjoying their fifteen minutes of
fame—in an all-new kitchen.
ERIC SEALS / DETROIT FREE PRESS
ims, a culinary student, and
S Myers, a commercial photogra-
pher, starred in the debut episode
of the Food Network’s newest show, All-
Star Kitchen Makeover. The couple beat
out 8,000 other contenders by submitting a
video parody of chef-wizard Alton
Brown’s wacky cooking show, Good Eats.
Sims and Myers celebrated their good fortune by making dinner with Food
Brown’s show is distinguished by his
Network host Alton Brown.
scientific focus and offbeat cinematogra-
phy—his oven cam and fridge cam, for
instance. Sims and friend Andy Tanguay
construction shots. “We tried to use all Ann free kitchen—complete with a butcher-
one-upped him by including shots from a
block island, a pop-up mixer stand, marble
Arbor products and companies,” says proj-
“closet cam.”
countertops, cupboards that opened, and a
ect designer Linda Mahlmeister of Momus
Sims learned about her good fortune
faucet over the stove for filling pots—it
Inc. Vinewood Construction did the gutting
when Brown himself snuck into a cooking
had also built storage cabinets in their din-
and building, and Motawi Tileworks created
class she was taking at Schoolcraft Col-
ing room and an adjoining office with
a custom backsplash. “We hired Zinger-
lege. Disguised as a produce deliveryman,
shelves for Sims’s cookbooks.
man’s to do all the catering,” Mahlmeister
Brown lugged in four banana boxes piled
The last surprise was A.B. himself. The
adds, laughing, “because then we could eat
up to hide his face. As he intentionally
star arrived with a box of tissues because,
Zingerman’s for four days.” Pilar’s Catering
made the boxes teeter, Sims rushed to
he said, “I heard a lot of blubbering down
also provided food on one of those days.
help. When the top two fell over, there he
here.” He seemed braced for the huge hug
The Food Network moved the couple
was, the great A.B., with even greater
that the six-foot-one Sims enveloped him
and their children—son Jackson and
news: Sims had won an all-new kitchen.
in. Brown then took the couple on a shop-
daughter Allyn—to Weber’s Inn during the
Brown then drove Sims, still dressed in
ping trip to Whole Foods, and together
frantic three-day makeover. On “reveal”
chef’s white, to her northwest-side home
they made the debut dinner in the new
day, the couple returned home to find their
so he could inspect her kitchen himself.
digs. The show aired repeatedly in August,
kitchen toilet sitting outside, its bowl
He found a retrograde, yellow-and-black
with a final showing scheduled for 4 p.m.
stuffed with yellow flowers. “I like it bet-
1960s-style mess with cupboard doors that
September 4.
ter here,” Sims said.
wouldn’t open, a toilet behind a sliding
How much did the completed kitchen
Then came the climax—their reaction
door, and so little room that Sims had to
cost? “No one really knows,” Mahlmeister
to their new kitchen. As Nic turned the
hide her cookbooks in a linen closet.
admits. “It was supposed to be a fifty-
corner from her foyer, her expression
The show intersperses interviews of the
thousand-dollar kitchen—that’s what the
morphed from hope to awe, shock, and
couple with bits of Brown’s biography (he
contest was. At first we were given carte
grateful tears. David was a walking smile.
was a TV cameraman before he hit foodie
fame). And of course there are plenty of Not only had the network given them a blanche, but we had to pull the reins in.”
September 2005 ANN ARBOR OBSERVER 11

3. MEDIA
Veterans Radio
Goes National
A WAAM radio show now
reaches 150 stations around
the country.
wo-year-old Veterans Radio already
T takes credit for furthering a story that
CIBELE VIEIRA
became a national outrage. This
month the show will be heard far beyond
the bounds of WAAM’s modest 5,000-watt
signal. The weekly program, which streams
Bob Gould (in black shirt, with Dale Throneberry, Ken Rogge, and Gary Lillie) says
across the world via the Internet, expects to
the show is about “average, ordinary Americans doing extraordinary military things.”
sign a broadcast syndication deal with the
Genesis Communications Network.
Bob Gould, one of the show’s four pro-
have called in. “We have a really unique and increase that—and it doesn’t happen.”
ducers, says the show’s true beginning was
product,” says Throneberry. “We talk to Benefits aside, “I really wanted to stay
in June 2003. He and Dale Throneberry,
vets about their adventures.” Shows mix as apolitical as possible,” says Throne-
then both brokers for Blue Cross Blue
music, discussion, interviews, stories from berry. When issues get political, “every-
Shield, had just learned that their commis-
guests and callers, “welcome home” body starts yelling at each other,” he
sions were going to be cut. They headed to
greetings to just-returned vets, a “medal of says—as happened on one show that in-
a bar to commiserate. Throneberry, who
honor” recognition series—and even poet- terviewed “Swift Boatees” from both
has a master’s degree in communications
ry. sides of the controversy over senator John
from the U-M, turned to Gould, who has a
Minnesota-based Genesis approached Kerry’s Vietnam service.
matching bachelor’s degree and years of
Veterans Radio after a contact made at a Many guests are local veterans: Bob
experience in TV and radio, and said, “I
veterans’ convention in Chicago this sum- Hutchinson of Dexter, a flight navigator
have an idea.” He wanted to do a radio
mer. “We wanted to do that [syndicate the who crash-landed in Nazi-occupied terri-
show about veterans. “I put out my hand,
show] from week one,” says Gould. “But tory; Don Burgett of Ann Arbor, a D-day
and that was the start of Veterans Radio,”
you have to show your bones—show paratrooper; and Ann Arbor nurses
Gould says.
them that you have staying power.”
Throneberry, who’s executive producer, Mildred McGregor, who served in World
They’ve proved that, he says, with stories
met the other two producers through the War II, and Mary Bailey, who served in
about how many servicepeople in Iraq
Vietnam Veterans of America. Ken Rogge Vietnam.
were killed in poorly armored vehicles,
of Manchester served in the naval reserve “The mantra of the show,” Gould says,
and the estimated 40 percent of vets re-
and the air force as a broadcaster for the “is about average, ordinary Americans
turning with post-traumatic stress disor-
American Forces Radio and Television doing extraordinary military things. For
der. Throneberry, a former helicopter pilot
Service. Real estate company owner Gary some Americans, being in the military
in Vietnam, cites the long lines that veter-
Lillie is a former navy Seabee who helped was the defining moment in their lives—
ans seeking treatment have to endure na-
build fire bases, housing, and airstrips dur- not high school, not their marriages—the
tionwide, and cuts to their benefits.
ing his 1966 tour in Vietnam. military. We try to provide the voice of the
“It sounds hokey,” Throneberry says,
The first show aired in November 2003 veteran, their stories.”
“but we’re really about duty, honor, and Veterans Radio airs on WAAM, 1600
on WSDS, a 750-watt AM station. By July
country, and we just want our politicians AM, every Sunday “at 1900 hrs Eastern,”
2004 the program had graduated to
to do what they say they’re going to do. as its website, veteransradio.net, says—
WAAM and also could stream over the
They promise vets benefits—increase this that’s 7 p.m. for you civilians.
Internet—even to Baghdad, where soldiers
December 2005 ANN ARBOR OBSERVER 11

4. yo for a few bites of the
Disneyland North fried, sugared dough and
Finding a mom’s “Yeehaw”
pronounces it “oookay.”
We’ve missed the band
and parade, so only the
I am not a fun person. Just ask my ex- sidewalk sale is left.
husbands. So going to summer fairs Then we find the Cranes-
and festivals is more of an “Uh-oh” than a bill Books table—and
“Yeehaw!” both of us disappear into
When I grew up, going anywhere meant the store’s coolness, buy
corralling the six other hellions known as the latest Harry Potter,
my siblings. Trouble enough right there. and meander some more.
Going to the fair meant hauling us all to Will this be my
scary, faraway places. Going to the Free- child’s memory of sum-
dom Festival along the Detroit River meant mer fairs? Escaping into
risking our lives. Some years a few folks a bookstore? Ah, but the
were killed—or, you know, just shot—in Chelsea Community
my hometown’s most macabre sport. After Fair awaits. This is a
one fearful trip, it never again seemed fair: exhibits, animals, a
worth it to schlep downtown to ooh and merry-go-round, a Ferris
ahh at fireworks I could see just as well on wheel, and rides called
TV. Call me a city chicken—that’s dead-on
GRIFFIN LINDSAY
“Freak Out” and “Ring
accurate. of Fire”—which Liam
Is this the kind of person to go to the will never, ever get my
local fairs? A neurotic, semiagoraphobic, permission to go on.
For a homebody and her skeptical son, the local fairs are a revelation.
TV-addicted homebody who hates traffic He’ll have to go with his
jams and lines and crowds and who’d re- D-Dad and not ever tell
cover faster on a therapist’s couch than on me about it.
a merry-go-round? We arrive two hours
Well, who better? After all, I have two from managing traffic to the 100-foot-long laugh, including mom Mary and daughter before the rides start, a fortuitous time for
children who aren’t always living it up cinder-block grills and swift serving lines. Marlene, fifteen. parking—there are only twenty cars in the
with their Disneyland Dads. Sometimes Even getting there is a big piece of Turns out the couple have been coming field—and for building anticipation. Mr.
they’re stuck with Workaday Mom. So pleasure pie. As Alex and I drive through Skeptical bounces like his yo-yo when he
together to the broil for twenty-four years
this could be a way to prove my exes the countryside, I revel in the beauty of the sees the cotton candy sign. He delights in
and Mary, who grew up in the area, for
wrong about my being a stick-in-the-mud. lush green hills and how peacefully pictur- the freakish squash and the miniature
years before that. Randy has his camera on
Better yet, I could make some good mem- esque the houses are. goats, and he pores over the kids’ art, all
a short strap so it lies squarely in the mid-
ories with my kids. Then comes an uh-oh: a long line of the while questioning, “Mom, when do the
dle of his chest. As he regales us with the
I’d done that once at an amusement cars blocks the town’s center. As we sit in rides start?”
history of the broil and the village, he
park. On a trip to Bob-Lo Island with line, a little piece of heaven happens. A car Alex joins us and we three—finally!—
snaps shots of friends walking by.
Alex, now twenty, he saw me laughing so ahead of us honks. “How utterly rude,” I get to play skee ball. Liam’s first throw is a
It’s all chummy here: families, pals,
hard on the Tilt-a-Whirl that he called it think—until a middle-aged man walking fifty-pointer! We veer through balloon
neighbors, and an oompah band called
his “favorite moment” in his fourth-grade down the sidewalk stops, grins, and waves darts, the carousel, the train, the old-time
Sounds of Germany that plays a world
“What I Did on My Summer Vacation” at the driver. fire engine, the ToonTown crazy house (a
tour of old standards like “When Irish
essay. Maybe there’ll be a moment like We spurn the shuttle from the high three-timer), and the giant slide (a four-
Eyes Are Smiling” and “That’s Amore.”
that for Liam, who’s seven and three- school and try to park near Alumni Mem- timer). Alas, though, no Tilt-a-Whirl. But
Mary tells me the band members’ lederho-
quarters and far more skeptical than Alex. orial Field. Sure enough, there’s a spot not there is a Scrambler. And oh mama, is it
sen were actually bought in Germany.
“We’re going to the fairs, Liam!” I ex- 300 feet from the entrance where we see— fast, whipping us around as Liam careens
How she knows this I figure has to do with
claim. uh-oh—more lines: fifty-folk deep at both into me and I white-knuckle the safety bar.
small-town neighborliness.
“The what?” he says, squinching up his entrances. Yet it takes only ten minutes or Five hours and many dollars later, we
sky-blue eyes at me. so to get in. While we wait, we’re serenad- head out with tummies full of elephant
“The fairs!”
O
ed by strolling Sweet-Adeline-like groups ears and plenty of souvenirs: a hugging
n our next excursion, Liam and I
“What are we going to do there?” of women singing “Over There” and other troll, a plastic parrot, Spot the stuffed Dal-
head to the Chelsea Summer Fest. I
“I have no idea. We’ll just open our numbers my grandma would have loved. matian, and an inflatable Spider-Man that
knew there was a motorcycle exhibit, but
minds and see what there is.” Here’s how you get your food: Seven weirdly matches Liam’s T-shirt. Just when
I am astounded at the miles of chrome
“Ooookay,” he says, still uncertain. men stand in a row. One plops the chicken I think we’re almost free, Liam spies the
and the bevy of bad-looking boys in
“Can I get a souvenir?” on a plate and hands it to the next. He Maze of Mirrors.
leather vests, ponytails, and do-rags. Oh
glops on the famed coleslaw. The next “Mom! It’s a maze!” he pleads. This
my! What a jolt of testosterone. Doesn’t
man, two radishes. Then roll, pat of butter, child has been fascinated by mazes since, I
W matter that the rags are hiding gray or
e start out at the Manchester Chick- bag of chips, towelette package, and drink don’t know, birth.
no hair. A bad boy is a bad boy is a—
en Broil, where 14,000 people eat as ticket. Less than a minute. “All right,” I say wearily. I wince over
mm mm mmm.
many chicken halves in one afternoon. Just “Thank you!” I say seven times. Very and over as my baby boy bangs into walls
But my good boy isn’t into motorcycles
the thought is enough to gag a vegan. For- impressive. full bore, forehead first. He comes out
this week. Nor is he into face painting or
tunately I’m omnivorous. And I admit I Joined up with a couple friends, we slipping down a twisty slide, elated.
pottery making. He’s on a mission: sou-
went primarily out of curiosity about how search amid the crowded banquet tables “Mom, that was great! My first maze!
venirs. We stop at the first block from the
this feat is accomplished. for enough seats. Do we go for an empty “Can we go to this fair tomorrow?” he
Jiffy factory lot and find a jellyfish yo-yo
Amazingly well, I’d say. A fan of plain table or horn in on someone else? We horn begs.
that blinks like a marquee when you push
cooking, I also found the chicken and slaw in on what turns out to be a mom, dad, He looks so happy that in my mind I
its center—and lights up my child’s face
son, and daughter. “May we join you?” I
scrumptious. hear—not a whimper—but a tiny, squeaky
no end.
ask. “Sure,” says Ben Baker, eleven. “We “Yeehaw.” The Saline Community Fair is
Those are just bonuses. The real entree
still to come, and next year, we just may hit
We could have left then, but there are
don’t bite—too hard.” He laughs. “And
is a sweet, old-timey event with friendly
’em all.
elephant ears yet to eat, and by God, we’re
we have enough food,” dad Randy says,
folks and an efficient delivery system.
—Sally Wright Day
gonna eat one. Liam stops flinging his yo-
“so we won’t be taking yours.” They all
Manchester has this down to a science,
80 COMMUNITY GUIDE 2005–2006

5. Scenes from the Disappearing
Countryside
Local poets and artists have produced a striking book.
T he stark, cracked ground on the cover of In Drought Time,
a new book of art and poetry edited by three Chelsea resi-
dents, belies what’s inside: rich but accessible poetry, lush
landscape paintings, and treasured photographs of Washtenaw
County—almost all by local artists.
Chief editor Doug Smith says the 114-page book, published
Nancy Feldman’s Funky Landscape.
in late October after four years of effort, captures “a wistful-
ness, a kind of mourning of the loss of a way of life, and also
some of the loneliness of living on a farm . . . and the loss of
family farms.”
Together, the art and poetry portray what Smith calls a Even so, it was not easy to find a publisher for a poetry an-
“community in flux.” Most of the poems touch on some aspect thology—especially one full of four-color art. Many publish-
of the book’s subtitle, Scenes from Rural and Small Town Life, ers showed serious initial interest but ultimately declined be-
with subjects like roadkill, the river, preying developers, dairy
cause of the steep cost of printing so much color. After two
farms, and surprise at finding missionaries on your porch
years of rejections and delays, Smith and his colleagues had
though you live far from the city. The art, masterful on its own
almost given up when Judith Kerman of Mayapple Press
and vividly colorful, is mostly of landscapes—glorious slices
agreed to publish it.
of fields, ponds, sunrises, and moonrises peppered with stolid
“I’m doing this book because it’s beautiful,” says Kerman,
silos and farm scenes—with some still lifes and figures.
who runs the small Bay City independent press. Also a poet
Smith met most of the poets when he owned the Little Pro-
and English professor at Saginaw Valley State University, Ker-
fessor Book Center in Chelsea (now Cranesbill Books) and
man says the title is the most expensive she’s ever published—
sponsored the Chelsea Poetry Contest and monthly poetry
$6,000 for 500 copies.
nights. “There’s so much talent in this area that I wanted to
It eased Kerman’s decision that the editors agreed to pro-
bring that to the world,” he says. Almost all contributors are
mote the book, and Woollams typeset and designed it. They
from Washtenaw County, with concentrations in Chelsea, Man-
and about ten contributors have been doing readings and sign-
chester, and Ann Arbor—and even a few “big names,” Smith
ings at area bookstores, cafes, and galleries (see Events for up-
says. “We invited all the ones we knew and liked.”
coming dates).
He and his fellow editors, Melody Vassoff and Karen Wool-
In Drought Time is available on-line at mayapplepress.com,
lams, turned to the Chelsea Painters and several local galleries
at local bookstores, and at Faith in Action in Chelsea, for
to find artwork appropriate for the poetry. All the artists, visual
$24.95.
and literary, agreed to allow their work to be included without
charge. “Everyone was doing it for the love of it,” Smith says. —Sally Wright Day

6. My Town
The Lion Dance
Lettuce blessings
at Eastern Accents
I t was raining as I hurried my eight-
year-old son into his gi so we could
slog over to Fourth Avenue for his karate
class. Only the prospect of going two
doors down to the bakery during Liam’s
session kept me patient on this especially
dreary Saturday.
I love Eastern Accents. You can sit cozi-
ly in its bright confines, sip rich coffee, and
eat bibim bob or some exotic Asian pastry.
The servers are so sweet and friendly that
all sorts of folks—students with laptops,
families with toddlers, friends and lovers,
and we singles—feel comfortable.
This unassuming little storefront is a
stick bangers, bell ringers, and cymbal dhist monk, the lion danced into the
microcosm of the city. You can’t help lis-
kitchen, behind the counter, and then
clangers walk beside them, making a hap-
tening to the polyglot of languages from all
right on top of it.
py, unwinterish noise. Yet I keep forget-
over—the speakers’ chairs are inches from All of a sudden, green lettuce leaves
ting—even though the troupe is from the
yours. Along with Asian languages, I’ve flew out of its mouth, landing on some of
kung fu class at Liam’s school, the Asian
eavesdropped on French, German, some- the customers near the back. This is the
Martial Arts Studio.
thing Slavic, and even Swedish, I think. blessing of the lion. “Eating and dispers-
Ach, and here I was, accidentally in the
And those are just the ones I can identify. ing of the greens symbolizes the distribu-
right place at the right time, only to be
I’d just settled in with my bibim bob tion of wealth and good fortune,” I learned
foiled by the weather.
and latte (extra shot, no foam, dash of nut- later on the school’s website (a2amas.
As the man described how the rain
meg) when in walked a muscular man, his com/liondance).
would also ruin the drums, I couldn’t help
graying hair in a brush cut. He agitatedly I found the head fascinating and a bit
it—I piped up.
plunked himself down at the table a foot scary, but my son’s face was lit up and
“Any chance they’ll reschedule it?”
away. In a few minutes, he had pulled over smiling. The lion jumped from the counter
“Maybe,” the man said, happy to talk
a friend to sit with him. and zigged and zagged to the front of the
about it even to interrupting strangers.
“Yeah, they’re going to cancel it. The restaurant, where it knocked off a bunch of
“They may go to all the restaurants to
lion’s head would just dissolve—it’s lettuce hanging from the lights. Then those
bless them. Maybe even here.”
papier-mâché,” he said loudly. “It’s just of us in the front were “blessed.” Cus-
Ach again! I downed my latte and ran
raining too hard.” He stared morosely out tomers clapped, and some grabbed cell
to pick up Liam. We hurried back, ordered
the window. phones to take photos and videos.
his usual rice bowl, and waited.
My ears perked up. The Lion Dance! It I looked again at my son, dressed in his
must be Chinese New Year! My friend gi with his Irish name written across it,
S
Wendy Moy would bop me on the head chopsticks in his hand, looking as blond
ure enough, a few minutes later I
for forgetting again. and blue-eyed as any Swede, in this Asian
could see the bright yellow lion cos-
For years I’ve wanted to see the Lion bakery surrounded by people of many eth-
tume and the percussionists out in the
Dance. Hundreds gather downtown to nicities, all cheering on this Chinese tradi-
building lobby. Drums started thumping,
watch the spectacle of the men in the lion’s tion. I took my own memory photo and
and the lion’s head appeared, its mouth
head and under the trailing yellow-silk thought, “Is this a great city, or what?”
and eyelids flapping with the beat. Led
body dancing down the streets. Drummers, by a tiny, round figure masked as a Bud- —Sally Wright Day
March 2006 ANN ARBOR OBSERVER 23

7. A
While the families of soldiers feel the
fter a Memorial Day cer-
war in Iraq in a deeply personal way, few
emony last year, Darcy Mon-
others have been directly affected. As the
ier decided she would do no
controversial conflict enters its fourth year,
more media interviews.
it seems distant and irrelevant to many.
Then she reconsidered.
And lots of people would prefer not to talk
“I realized if I didn’t talk to the press,
about it. Yet under this complacency and
THE
then he would be forgotten,” she says.
silence, deep divisions fester.
So here she is, wearing a U.S. Army
sweatshirt and her son’s dog tags, sitting in
A heart for troops
the dining room of her off-the-beaten-
WAR
On Valentine’s Day in Bridgewater, mil-
track home in Dexter Township, next to a
itary people and local supporters crowd into
huge display of photos and clippings. And
the Bridgewater Bank Tavern for a “Have a
once again she is telling the story of how
Heart for Our Troops” spaghetti dinner
Donnie was mortally wounded in Iraq in
fund-raiser. In the parking lot, one old car
August 2004.
sports a bumper sticker that says, “When
The pictures and plaques and medals—
Clinton lied, nobody died.” It’s parked next
and her memories and words—are all she
AT
to a van whose rear end variously proclaims
has left of her only son, who died after the
“Semper Fi,” “U.S. Marine Corps,” “Sup-
Humvee he was riding was blown up by
port Our Troops,” and “Proud American.”
an “improvised explosive device” while he
HOME
At the door a marine in full dress uni-
was on patrol near the city of Balad.
form greets people. In the packed house of
Twenty-year-old Donald McCune was
veterans, locals, and a few active-duty mil-
thrown from the vehicle by the blast and
itary personnel, there is no evidence of
rushed to a military hospital in Germany,
anyone who might be attached to that
where he died the next day.
Clinton bumper sticker. In fact, organizer
His mother is not bitter. She’s obvious-
John Kinzinger of Ann Arbor, head of the
ly proud and dedicated to keeping his
local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of
memory alive. She has a ready smile and a
America, says that anyone who’s against
gentle demeanor. You can tell she’s prac-
the war in Iraq “will be escorted out.”
ticed at speaking to reporters by now, but
While proudly showing a display of pho-
she’s also achingly genuine. Her words
tos of various local “support the troops”
mirror the resolve of her son.
rallies, Kinzinger says that of the local
Born into a military family—his grand-
chapter’s 150 members, three might join
fathers on both sides were soldiers, and so
an antiwar protest.
were many other relatives—Donnie Mc-
Fissures over Iraq run deep.
In the room, the range of opinion runs
Cune split time between schools in Chel-
from those who feel war protesters are un-
sea and Fort Wayne, where his father
by Michael Betzold and Sally Wright Day
informed and misguided to those who im-
lived, after his parents divorced. He also
ply they are traitors.
attended Ann Arbor Huron for a time, but
Gunnery sergeant Troy Britton, a marine
he enlisted before he finished high school,
instructor in the University of Michigan will being spread. “These people are liv- supervisor, says war protesters “give the
eventually getting his GED. He was so
ROTC program, is hanging near the bar enemy fodder. Every time there’s an anti-
ing free now, where they weren’t before,”
eager to fight in Iraq that he transferred
with Eric Pierce, who is wearing fatigues war action here on the streets, it helps the
says Britton. He concedes that “every-
from an Army National Guard training
and hoping he will soon get over to the enemy.” The only legitimate way to
one’s entitled to their own view,” but in-
unit in suburban Detroit to a combat bat-
front after nine years in the marines. Britton protest, he says, is at the ballot box.
sists that those who oppose the war are
talion in Washington State.
served in Iraq during the initial invasion by misinformed. As the afternoon progresses, there’s a
Monier says her son loved everything
American forces in 2003. Others aren’t that forgiving. Bill Olters- warm buzz of camaraderie in the tavern,
about the military, especially the travel and
“There’s a high level of misperception dorf, a Korean War vet from Hamburg with kindred spirits sharing stories. “Every-
the chance to make a difference in peo-
of what’s going on in Iraq,” Britton says. Township, says President Bush is com- one here is promilitary,” says marine com-
ple’s lives. Her second husband, from
He blames the American media for not pletely right in prosecuting the war: “In mandant Tony Gillam proudly. Gillam, a
whom she is now separated, is also in the
doing stories about schools being opened, Korea we stood up to the communists. In Vietnam vet, gestures around the room,
service and was coming home from a tour
Iraq we’re standing up to the terrorists.”
infrastructure being built, cities being pointing out men who have served in World
in Iraq as Donnie was entering the combat
And Kinzinger, a retired Ford engineering
made safe from the insurgents, and good- War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf
zone. Her husband may go back soon for a
second tour, and Monier’s resigned to that:
“I have a military life, and there will al-
ways be someone over there.”
The death of her son hasn’t dampened
her support for the U.S. mission there: “I
still one hundred percent support what
we’re doing,” she says.
Deb Regal doesn’t. Her son Justin, a
twenty-six-year-old marine, returned in
February from an eight-month tour in Iraq.
His service hasn’t changed Regal’s firm
opposition to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The war is always dogging Regal. She
feels it in her ever-present worry for her
son’s safety, especially since he could be
redeployed again before his hitch is over
in June. She sees it in her work as publi-
city director for Military Families Speak
Out, a national antiwar group. She sees it
in the faces of her eighth-grade students at Darcy Monier of Dexter Township Deb Regal, publicity director of Bill Oltersdorf of Hamburg Township
holds the flag that was draped over Military Families Speak Out, says her believes president George W. Bush is
Pathfinder School in Pinckney.
the coffin of her only son, Donnie son Justin, a twenty-six-year-old completely right to prosecute the war
“I have never appreciated in my life
McCune. He was twenty years old marine, supports her right to protest in Iraq. A Korean War veteran,
what it has meant to be on guard constant-
when mortally wounded in Iraq almost the war. “He said, ‘It’s all for nothing Oltersdorf likens this war against
ly,” she says slowly and carefully, “fearing
two years ago. Despite her loss, if those of us in uniform are not terrorism to his war’s focus on
for a loved one who is in a dangerous and
Monier supports the war defending the ideals on which our communism.
hostile situation and not being able to . . .
“one hundred percent.” country was founded,’ ” Regal says.
get any reassurance that he was okay.”
PHOTOS GRIFFIN LINDSAY
SPRING 2006 14
NOTE: Michael Betzold wrote most of this story.
I contributed half of the reporting.

8. THE WAR
Now back stateside, Keith Kramer is two years of this war I can probably count
Monier says no one has said one criti-
AT HOME
warmed by overwhelming support from the number of nights’ sleep I had on one
cal word to her, and many people have
American civilians. He recalls how people hand,” he says. “You can tell all the vets
come forward to offer help and kind senti-
in the Atlanta airport stood and applauded by the bags under their eyes.”
ments. Others who have served in Iraq,
CONTI NU E D as he and fellow soldiers came home. “A Lillie, who runs his own real estate
and their families, say they’ve felt no
lot of people are critical of the war, but company, is a senior producer of Veterans
backlash from local communities—in fact,
they support us,” he says. Radio, a nationally syndicated talk show
quite the opposite.
War. “We could start a war right here,” he originating at WAAM in Ann Arbor. He
Lynn Kramer of Saline says everyone
Dissension in the
jokes. says only history will judge whether this
has been supportive of her family and her
ranks
The fund-raiser lasts nine hours and in- war is right or wrong, but his feelings on
sons, Keith and Kory, who have each
the war are like razors’ edges.
cludes raffles, speeches, entertainment, served tours of duty in Iraq. Even oppo- Yet even within the military ranks,
local celebrity guest servers including “I’m not prowar,” he says. “I’m sup-
nents of the war have been respectful: there are people who aren’t gung-ho about
Washtenaw County sheriff Dan Minzey, portive of the troops. There’s nobody
“They know they’re just doing their job.” this conflict.
and a candlelight memorial closing cere- who’s been to war who is prowar. . . . You
Keith Kramer, an army captain, is a Seeing his son go off to Iraq was “the
mony at which the names of all seventy- live with your feet rotting off, and you’re
1993 graduate of Saline High, and Kory, most gut-wrenching experience of my
five Michigan war dead are reverently re- so tired, and you don’t know how you can
an army lieutenant, graduated in 2000. life,” says David Martinez of York Town-
cited. About $9,000 will be raised— go on another day, another week, another
Both young men enrolled in ROTC at ship. “You don’t look forward to seeing
enough to ship nearly 200 care packages month, and you get scared to death. And
Eastern Michigan University. Keith was your kids go to war. War is not a pretty
to troops in Iraq. then people say you’re prowar because we
with the first U.S. troops to enter Iraq in thing. I was a career military person for
“We can’t do enough stuff like this,” don’t go protesting with them? We’re anti-
2003. He returned this January from a sec- twenty-two years, and if I could have gone
Kinzinger says, reciting the VVA chapter’s protester, not prowar.”
ond yearlong tour, and Kory came home in his place, I would have.”
motto: “Never again shall a vet return home Martinez vividly recalls his twelve-
from his first year in Iraq. Both are living
to be made to feel alone and unappreciated.” hour shifts as a navy corpsman airlifting
with their families in Fort Stewart, Geor- Standing up and
The VVA is only one of many organi- wounded marines out of Vietnam ground
gia. Keith’s wife is expecting twins, and
shutting up
zations dedicated to supporting the troops. combat. Helicopters he was riding in were
Kory and his wife have a little boy.
Cathy Muha feels she is being patriotic
Local American Legion and VFW chap- shot down three times, and he says he saw
As the insurgency intensified last year,
by protesting the war weekly in front of
ters, military moms, and even student more maiming, death, and body parts in
both young men were stationed in hot
the Chelsea post office on Main Street
groups also send letters and care packages, one year in Vietnam than in twenty years
zones. Captain Keith Kramer was a com-
with her comrades in CANOPAS, the
raise money, and offer other support. working as a nurse in emergency rooms in
pany commander who oversaw troops in
Chelsea Area Network of Peace Activists.
Michigan.
Many of the same groups donate supplies the heart of Samarra, an insurgent strong-
The protesters have been at the post office
“I don’t feel right about this war,” says
to the VA hospital in Ann Arbor. When hold. Kramer and his men didn’t fight large
at noon every Sunday since before the war
Martinez. “I think we should get our
Donald McCune died, Darcy Monier says, battles; they operated in platoons, making
started.
troops out of there so we don’t lose any
Kinzinger and others played a major role nighttime raids on homes of suspected in-
“At first we had quite a few negative
more of them.”
in organizing the moving, well-attended surgents. The building they were quartered
comments yelled out of cars and rude ges-
Sergeant Ken Parks doesn’t support the
funeral in Chelsea. in was hit several times by mortar attacks.
tures,” Muha says. “Now, it’s overwhelm-
war, either, but he’s eager to help his com-
ingly positive. . . . We get honks and
rades. Parks is fifty-five and served in the
waves and peace signs.”
air force in Vietnam as a loadmaster on
Patrons of the Common Grill some-
transport planes; he never saw combat. Af-
times come out and stand with the protest-
ter leaving the air force, Parks, who lives
ers for a little while, cups of cocoa in hand.
in Ypsilanti, joined the National Guard.
“Many times people will come across the
He volunteered to go to Iraq as “my
street to say, ‘Thank you for doing this—I
last big adventure” and arrived in 2003
don’t really have the time to do this, so
shortly after formal combat operations
thank you for doing it,’ ” Muha says.
ended. He served for a year in the 156th
Muha’s husband, Michael, a Vietnam
Signal Battalion, setting up phone and
vet, is the membership chair for the Wash-
computer communications. The first year
tenaw County Veterans for Peace, a forty-
after the invasion was relatively quiet, and
member group. He says the war “really
Parks never saw fighting.
doesn’t affect most people” except the
He was disturbed, however, by revela-
families of active service members. “The
tions about torture in the Abu Ghraib
rest of us, there really are no sacrifices
prison; he believes strongly in fighting
we’re making.”
honorably and treating prisoners fairly.
The Chelsea activists are sometimes
His desire to serve “nobly” figures in his
joined by folks from the Manchester Area
plan for another tour of duty. “You could
People for Peace, including Eileen Parker.
become a beast” in war, Parks says. “But I
Parker’s group swims against the tide in
don’t want to be a killer. I want to follow
Manchester, a strong military town whose
the rules.”
VFW hall proudly displays a poster with
He has another reason for wanting to
photos of about thirty locals who are in the
return to Iraq: “Having a little danger, car-
armed services now. “The American Le-
rying a weapon around—I get a little kick
gion is very strong in this town, and I
out of that.” Then he describes his desire
don’t see them changing,” says Parker.
for another tour as “a good definition of
“They use fear” and the words “support
sin—fighting a war whose purpose you
the troops” against the peace activists, she
don’t believe in just because you like be-
says: “You get a lot of knee-jerk patriot-
ing a soldier.”
ism over there, wrapping themselves in
Parks says that he was dismayed when
the flag. It’s discouraging.”
he returned from Vietnam at how prosper-
Manchester VFW post commander
ity continued on the home front, at how
Harvey Dethloff is dismissive of the pro-
people were unaffected by the war, and at
testers: “The consensus of the veterans is
how shabbily veterans were treated. He
that they don’t know what they’re doing.
says now civilians almost “go overboard”
Unless you’ve been there and done [com-
in being supportive of the troops. He be-
Top: John Kinzinger, who organized the “Have a Heart for Our Troops” spaghetti bat], you don’t know.”
lieves it’s because “the whole nation is
dinner, says that any antiwar attendees would be escorted out of the Dethloff says the war isn’t discussed
still reacting to Vietnam, and there’s a
Bridgewater Bank Tavern, owned by Susan Maurer. With so many veterans at much at Manchester VFW meetings, and
collective guilt about the way vets were
the fund-raiser, Tony Gillam says, “we could start a war right here.” that holds for other local veterans organi-
treated then.”
Bottom: Gunnery sergeant Troy Britton, ROTC instructor at the U-M, claims the
zations as well. Chuck Reed, commander
Gary Lillie of Scio Township is still re-
mainstream media are at fault for not publicizing the good things happening in
of the Chelsea VFW post, says, “There’s
acting to Vietnam too.
Iraq. Eric Pierce, a marine for nine years, hopes to be in Iraq soon.
“Like a lot of Vietnam vets, for the first not a lot said during our meetings about the
PHOTOS GRIFFIN LINDSAY
15 COMMUNITY OBSERVER