Anger, fear, compassion.
Ask people on the North Olympic Peninsula how they feel five years after Sept. 11, 2001, and you’ll hear about those emotions — plus a few others.
The potential for another terrorist attack troubles us.
So do other threats.
And some of us are plain disgusted with the Bush administration’s use of Sept. 11 as justification to go to war in Iraq.
Fear of flying– and of draft
Mike Jones, 16, of Port Angeles, said he’s flown several times since 2001, and yes, he was a little nervous.
But he’s more concerned about the possibility of a military draft, as the war on terror continues.
“People’s view of the United States is getting worse as we’re picking fights with more countries,” Jones said.
Ashley Ferguson, 17, of Port Angeles, said she feared for her mother’s safety this summer when she took a flight to Alaska.
And like Jones, Ferguson worries that the occupation of Iraq has turned other nations against the United States.
“They attacked one side of the country. Why not the other side?” added Brandon Jones, 14, of Port Angeles.
He said his heart pounded as he boarded a California-bound plane six months ago.
U.S. in Iraq — and fear
Many Peninsula residents interviewed saw no connection between Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorists.
And they’ve grown disillusioned with the United States’ mission in Iraq.
The attacks “were a good excuse” that President Bush used to go to war, said Karen Bert, 43.
“I think the administration uses [the terrorism menace] as a scare tactic to keep us so frightened that we won’t question what the government is doing,” she added.
The Iraq war has changed other nations’ view of America for the worse, said Bert, who is a bookseller and manager of the Port Angeles Farmers Market.
Glen Paris-Stann, a retired world sailor who’s lived in Port Townsend for nine years, said that the government is “keeping [Americans] in line by continually frightening them.”
The terrorists, she said, “got what they wanted. They wanted Americans to be afraid.”
Monica Marriott, manager of the Sea Breeze convenience store in Port Townsend, said she expects another terrorist attack on the United States, “just by judging what’s all in the news.”
To her mind, sending troops into Iraq and Afghanistan will not protect this country from another attack.
Bert added that the events of Sept. 11 have bred mistrust among U.S. citizens.
She feels compassion toward American Muslims, since “their religion has been hijacked by extremists.”
Nedra Reed, mayor of Forks, is aligned with Bert on that point, but diverges in her view of the Bush administration.
“I have acquaintances who are American Muslims. I do feel sorry for them. They have every right to [practice their faith], just as I have every right, as a Baptist.
“What’s happened with the Islamic religion is almost a blanket condemnation. That should not happen, least of all in this country,” she said.
Security and freedom
At the same time, Reed adds that she’s concerned about security along the U.S.-Canada border.
She has no complaint about the Bush administration’s surveillance programs.
“If we have nothing to hide, we shouldn’t fear the extra scrutiny, the increased vigilance and monitoring. If that keeps us safe, we have the responsibility to live with it.
“No matter where we are, we’ve lost our innocence. We’ve lost our ability to feel comfortable,” Reed added.
Anna Pagac of Forks, 19, vehemently took the opposite position.
“I’m more worried about my freedoms,” she said.
“You let them go an inch, and they take a mile. I disapprove of our government.
“I think my whole generation feels that way. We see nothing positive coming from our government . . . they’re trying to scare us all the time.”
Pagac said she refuses to live in fear of terrorism, and instead plans to broaden her education.
Later this month she’ll return to Western Washington University, where she’s considering a major in political science.
‘What if?”
Anna Matsche, 27, has traveled to Europe several times since 2001.
“At first, people felt sorry for us. That changed once we started retaliating, and now people think we’re kind of crazy.
“When they hear you’re American, they want to talk politics. It’s ‘Why are you doing this?”‘
At the same time Matsche, co-owner of Forks’ Hard Rain Cafe, said she’s vigilant whenever she flies.
“You size people up. You think, ‘What if?”‘
Harlan Knudson of Port Angeles wrote to the Peninsula Daily News in an e-mail: “Every time I ride the Winslow-Seattle ferry I think of the vulnerability of this country to a terrorist attack,”
And Knudson, Olympic Medical Center’s commissioner, said the government and citizens could do better on the terrorism prevention front.
“But,” he noted, “that would mean the U.S. and other countries stop financing the organized terrorists by reducing our dependence on oil.”
Chris James, 51, said the aftermath of Sept. 11 has prompted him to discuss geopolitics more often, and to question the Bush administration’s motives.
“This is a great country with a lot of brilliant people in it. It needs to find a new direction, and new leadership,” said James, a Port Angeles home builder.
James also believes that U.S. military strikes since Sept. 11 have stirred acrimony among many nations.
Now his 20-year-old son is preparing to take a trip around the globe.
“I’m fearful for his safety,” James said.
Need to protect ourselves
Carmen Ragsdale, a 50-ish lavender farmer in tiny Blyn, said she worries about another attack.
“We’re pretty vulnerable. We’ve offered so much freedom, to our detriment I think. We’ve let anybody come into the country, without investigating their past.
“There’s more we can do in terms of protection. But how do you do that without taking away people’s rights and freedoms? It’s a hard balance. But I think we should have a tighter grip on that end.
“Our country is afraid of offending anybody,” Ragsdale added. “We need to protect ourselves.
“And we have to be supportive of the administration.
“A house divided can’t stand. It’s time for the country to stand together and fight together.”
Vietnam veteran Mike Money, 56, of Sequim, said the carnage on Sept. 11 hurtled him back to his worst memories of Southeast Asia.
When he saw people hitting the ground after jumping from the World Trade Center, he remembered watching, powerless to help, as a fellow sailor fell from high perch onto the deck of his U.S. Navy ship in Vietnam.
During the Vietnam era, Money said, the government used scare tactics about Communism and now it’s using the terrorist threat to justify military involvement in Iraq.
“We should never have been in Vietnam. It was a political war, just like this.”
Yet Money doesn’t dwell on the possibility of another attack on U.S. soil.
Worrying gets you nowhere, he said.
Nash Huber, 65, agreed with that.
But the Dungeness Valley farmer does think about being self-reliant after a disaster.
“Being in the food business, we think about the concept of food security. We try to prepare our farm to be able to function,” he said.
“We could feed ourselves and a good part of the valley if we had to.”
“I’m more concerned about global warming,” Huber added.
Still feels violated
One Port Townsend woman said her memory of Sept. 11 is nearly as vivid as it was in the fall of 2001.
Anita Schmucker still feels violated by the attacks, and she fears another terrorist strike.
The events of five years ago, she said, “made me more aware of my family values and the time we have together.”