Peace vigil, pro-troops group take sides

Windsor Vigil for Peace now has a counterpart across the street on Lakewood Drive for Friday night gatherings.
by NATHAN WRIGHT – Staff Writer
For the third week in a row, two groups of citizens have lined opposite sides of Lakewood Drive on Friday nights to voice their opinions on the war with Iraq.
One side, the Windsor Vigil for Peace, has been gathering every Friday since January to quietly demonstrate against the war. The other side, a group without an official name, is willing to proclaim themselves “a pro-American group.” They started meeting three weeks ago to give Windsor’s main entryway both sides of the story.
Ginny Vetter, who has been part of the peace vigil since the very beginning, is growing tired of the protests. As she stands there, cars drive past and drivers yell obscenities at her. She does not answer, and does not seem rattled, but when asked, she’ll admit she’s almost ready to put her sign away and leave the insults to others.
“It seems a lot worse now,” said Vetter, comparing the vigil from before the war to present. “People are getting very hateful and aggressive. I don’t know if this is doing any good.”
Only 10 feet away stands Matt Myres, who has recently joined the vigil and isn’t discouraged. As cars pass by him and their occupants shout comments, he chatters back. He won’t use obscenities, but still participates in dozens of 15 second conversations while cars wait for the lights to change.
“We try to do it peacefully,” Myres said. “There’s room for everyone’s opinions out here.”
Joining Myres were Windsor High School students’ Brandon Hassur and Billy Park. Hassur masterminded last month’s Windsor High protest that didn’t break any school rules, and he continues to speak out for what he believes in. When he watches the other group of protestors across the street, he questions why they only hold American flags, and no signs.
“The American flag represents peace as well,” he begins. “It doesn’t represent war. It represents the democracy of America. It represents people voicing their opinions.”
His classmate, Park, nods in agreement, throwing in comments while Hassur speaks. “At first I lost hope that small towns have any energy or passion,” Park says. He glances at the anti-war protestors and continues. “It’s touching, it’s such a small town but they’re out here.”
A few hundred feet away, the pro-American group waves their flags in support of the troops. Most who drive by give them positive feedback, many by giving the group a thumbs up.
Susanne Esrock is one of the pro-Americans, and she says her son is in the Middle East, fighting for his country. Her son, Seth Volk, is in the Air Force, and was taught Arabic by the U.S. Military. Esrock says that her experiences with anti-war protestors has been thus far negative. “One of the anti-war women came up to me and asked what Saddam Hussein had done to me,” she said, recounting an earlier experience she had in Healdsburg. “She told me I should be ashamed of myself and of my son.”
Shelly and Pete Sourek were the first to pull together the pro-troops group, and they stand by many of the same ideas as the group across the street. “We show them we’re for peace,” said Shelly Sourek. “We want a peaceful country.” Her husband, Pete, agrees, and will even go so far as to promise the ultimate sacrifice to uphold the Vigil for Peace’s freedom of speech. “I would die for their freedom to do that.”
[This article has been altered to remove information that could not be verified.]