PLYMOUTH, N.C.
The setting was humble and wholesome, and so was the food. Fresh-cooked pork barbecue, green beans and homemade pound cake, all served on paper plates at picnic tables inside a giant barn.
The people, too, were humble. Even on a Saturday night when they could gleefully have celebrated their David-vs.-Goliath victory over the U.S. Navy, they refrained.
Instead of high-fives, hundreds of people exchanged thanks – first to God, then for one another, and finally, with a standing ovation, to the lawyers who represented them in court.
In fact, some guests even thanked the Navy for bringing them together.
“I don’t want to say, 'We beat them,’” Ronnie Askew said. “I want to say, 'With the good Lord’s help, we showed them the error of their ways.’”
Askew was one of about 500 people in this rural community who packed the Beasley family’s barn for what North Carolinians Opposed to the Outlying Landing Field called, “Our Blessed Celebration.”
It was a party more than four years in the making. One, two and three years ago, similar events packed the barn. But those were fundraisers or get-to-know-you gatherings for politicians, journalists and environmental groups they brought together to talk about the cause.
This night was a chance to savor, finally, the battle that reversed the Navy’s decision in 2003 to make 30,000 acres of farmland in Washington County into a place for Navy jets to practice simulated aircraft carrier landings.
In January, Navy Secretary Donald Winter removed Washington County – Site C, in the Navy’s voluminous study – from the service’s list of potential locations.
Instead, the Navy is now assessing a number of sites in Virginia and North Carolina. The field would be used primarily by jets based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
Almost everybody initially wrote off Washington County’s opposition to the project, which would have displaced a few dozen people and affected additional farmers whose land the Navy wanted to lease.
Jennifer Ange acknowledged that she had her doubts, listening to naysayers back in 2003 and 2004.
“Everybody said, 'You can’t take on the government. You don’t have a chance,’” Ange recalled.
Instead, the 30-year-old Ange and her identical twin sister, Christy, became two of the Navy’s fiercest opponents.
They learned how to build a coalition, including such diverse groups as the National Rifle Association, Audubon Society and FreedomWorks, which opposes eminent domain and fights for property rights.
The twins, as everybody calls them, led a group of residents who traveled by bus to Washington, D.C., to lobby elected officials in the summer of 2006.
For many on the bus, it was their first trip to the city. They didn’t stop at any national monuments, instead visiting every single legislator’s office that would admit them. They distributed binders full of information contradicting the Navy’s assessment that Washington County would be an ideal spot for pilots to practice about 13,600 touch-and-go maneuvers annually.
Some of the two dozen speakers Saturday recalled the early days of the fight, when local citizens were getting to know lawyers from Kennedy Covington, the Charlotte-based law firm that represented them pro bono.
Kennedy Covington filed suit against the Navy in January 2004 – joined by the Southern Environmental Law Center, which opposed Site C because of its proximity to a national wildlife refuge that supports tens of thousands of birds each winter.
The farmers had a more emotional pitch, arguing that they shouldn’t be forced to give up land their families had farmed for generations. But it was the birds that really made the case – something a few speakers mentioned.
“Though they couldn’t be here because they left a few weeks ago, also celebrating with us tonight are the birds,” said Chris Kennedy, the Audubon Society’s representative in North Carolina. He held up an enlarged print of an editorial cartoon from the Charlotte Observer, showing a flock of geese heading out of Washington County, their usual “V” formation also a symbol of Victory.
“We rode those birds to the grave, and then we rode them back for the resurrection,” said David Peoples, Washington County’s manager. “And thank God for them.”
Derb Carter, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, used what turned out to be a key phrase in his remarks, two words discovered in an internal Navy e-mail in which one officer expressed doubts about the inclusion of Site C.
“We completely 'reverse- engineered’ a fundamentally flawed decision of the United States Navy,” Carter said to loud applause.
As happy as the crowd was to put an end to an unsettling time, many said they’d be sad to lose the camaraderie that the cause spurred.
Others saw the good that has come out of the fight.
“I think there’s a bond and a friendship that has united the community we didn’t have before,” said Doris Morris, the diminutive but influential spokeswoman for the No-OLF group.
Ronnie Askew said Navy officials didn’t understand the power of the community.
“They acted like they didn’t understand our way of life, and they don’t,” Askew said. “They move around every few years. They’ve got a house, but they don’t have a home.”
Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, or kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com
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For all of you calling NC
For all of you calling NC residents unpatriotic and wanting to take military funding away from NC.PLEASE look at the number of military bases in NC.THERE IS LIFE AND PATRIOTISM BEYOND VA BEACH AND CHESAPEAKE. When we lived in Va Beach Oceana was in the middle of nowhere. Not anymore.Va Beach allowed this to happen. Let's not forget it wasn't long ago that the Navy was going to CLOSE Oceana b/c of the encroachment.The OLF will allow Oceana to remain viable. it is so easy to call North Carolinians unpatriotic when Va Beach has the cash cow it has in Oceana.Without the Navy Va Beach would be just another beach town. And as far as threatening tolls on highways from Va to NC--there already is one on 168, right near the NC border.Coincidence lots of Virginians have moved to Moyock?NO. Remember, NC can place a nice toll before the Outer Banks too. Plenty of Va license plates there each summer. If tolls are put on Va roads, I will take my money I spend on drs/shopping and keep it in NC.Greenville has just as good doctors and shopping.
Agree DMW
You and others like you made a choice to get away from the jets and as far as I'm concerned have every right to fight having the jets follow you whether in NC or VA. I don't consider it unpatriotic either.
As you indicate, I made a choice to be near noisy bases and I for sure feel I have absolutely no right to now whine about noise. I also have no sympathy for those who made a similar choice to mine and now complain/sue over the noise.
Ok, enough with pointing
Ok, enough with pointing fingers at all of Virginians, point the fingers at Virginia Beach Council and residents near Oceana and Fentress. The residents knew when they bought and moved in that area that there was the Naval Base. When Oceana started in 1940, it wasn't built up. People moved there knowing the base was there. Virginia Beach gets the income from the base, not other localities. The residents don't like the noise, so, they have sued and sued the Navy. THAT is the reason the Navy is looking elsewhere for an OLF. VB wants the noise gone, but, wants to keep the income. The people calling the ones in the sites "unpatriotic", should look in the mirror. Oh, by the way, how many of the criers in the VB area have served this country?
and why are they looking at NC for the fields in the first place
..because people in VA don't want to give up their land, that's why. Now who is unpatriotic?
to kathifitz
Please lets not be petty. You know what I meant the Navy has said they will fly whenever they want, that there will not be any restrictions placed on this practice site. But, mostly they will be conducting night flights. Again, VA and all of those patriotic citizens didn't go for that so why should we.
As for the person who choses to live near Langley and a bombing area. More power to you. You made a choice as did I not to live near an environment like that. So again my choice is not to the proposed OLF in my area.
For Pierreg and Dmw
Pierreg
Maybe VA will support it as you indicate but the arguements I see coming out of the sites proposed in VA are the same as Dmw voiced. Folks moved away from Oceana and Fentress to now find the jets may be following. Very valid arguement and not a lack of patriotism.
Dmw
I guess I'm one of those liars. I live near Langley. Knew the base was there and deal with the noise. I've had an old place on the OBX for nearly 40 yrs in the path to the bombing range at Stumpy Point. Knew it was there and deal with it.
DMW...
The Navy conducts NIGHT flight training "24/7"??? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
Patriotisim
I feel that patriotism IS to question and fight the government, if necessary. People these days forget that the government and it's representatives work for us! It is in the true spirit of the Founding Fathers that we rise up and call into question the decisions made. These people spoke with one voice, and told the government that they did not agree with the decision to put an OLF in their community. maybe if more people took this position, and not blindly supported certain people, we may not be in Iraq! Power to the Citizens, the real protectors of Democracy!
North Carolina transplant
I served 10+ yrs in the Navy. Over half of that was onboard ships including a carrier. I lived under the arresting gear and right above the jet shop. I dealt with extreme noise for years. When I got out my family and I made a choice not to live near Oceana or in any flight paths. Two yrs ago we decided we wanted even more peace and tranquility so we moved south to North Carolina. There are no street lights, sirens, car stereos, but more importantly there are not jets flying overhead. I live in a county that has been listed for a potential OLF and I say no. Does that make me unpatriotic, heck no!!! The sole purpose for the OLF is for the Navy to conduct night practice 24/7. That didn't fly in VA because the jets have to stop flying at a certain time. Why would anyone in their right mind want jets flying over their house at 12, 1, 2, 3 in the morning? No one, and if you say you do then you are a liar. To sound petty we were here first, not the other way around. Their is absolutely no benefit to having an OLF come to our county.
Comprehensive reply
"Hicks?" I can count more than one college degree amongst my neighbors. A large part of the problem is the perception that those of us in NC are lacking in intelligence because of our geographical placement. I think you would find my quality of living to be much higher than that which was provided when I lived in VA. The insult displays the mentality that some of you think allwos you to shovel your problems to the south on an easily victimized populas. Kudos to Washington County for celebrating the fact they brought down Goliath. Not bad for a bunch of "hicks."
Tolls have already been placed on 168 by VA. Perhaps you should pay attention.
To call NC citizens unpatriotic to get your way is unoriginal and an attempt to bully someone into doing things your way. The real reason the OLF is needed is to reduce traffic at Oceana and avoid the encroaching lights placed there by your citizens and business' that serve them. Isn't it an obvious fact that you all have the problem of getting in your own way. Now you think the easy solution is to have the "hicks" carry the load for you?
My fellow North Carolinians: Do not be swayed by these false arguments. These people want nothing
About Time the Corrupt Government Lost One!!!
The people spoke and won!!! Let the Navy use what they have!! I'm from Virginia Beach and I'm glad NC won this dispute. All the comments about NC being anti-navy is a croc. Wake up people it's not always about what the government or Navy wants!! It's about what the people want. NC said no; the people spoke!! I wish our own virginia beach council could learn a thing or two from this!!!
This is great news!!!!!!!
One lady said they were patriotic - they have "Support Our Troops" stickers on their car. Welllllll, I am impressed.
I am going to put a picture of a dollar bill with 6 zeros behind it on my car. I guess I'll be a millionaire.
Hey, NYC Sailor, some of us do appreciate you. Thanks for your service. I mean that.
VA, where is your patriotism?
how many of you NC bashers are volunteering to give up your propery, your home for this badly needed navy project?? Why don't we see any Virginia communities lobbying FOR placement of the OLF in their community since VA is soooo patriotic???
The people in eastern north carolina felt that if they were expected to give up homes, property, and deal with the noise, decreased property values and nearly ALL of the negatives from this type of facility then the local area should at least have the benefit of having the squadron based there. This was never offered to Washington Co. The squadron was to be based at Oceana, meaning nearlt ALL the economic benefits would be for hampton roads while NC handled just about all the negatives. How convenient for overcrowded hampton roads!
Good for Washington County!!! Now, lets BULLDOZE ALL of the encroachment around Oceana since VA fought so hard to keep it open during the BRAC process!!!
By the way
The 500 NC families can forever celebrate being the ones that pushed the United Sates Navy out of their back yard. Every victory from now on will be accomplished without their help, What a wonderful legacy to leave for your children!
NOT!
Don't fool yourself. You are not patriotic. You are part of the anti-American "not in my backyard crowd"
WE SUPT OUR TROOPS - JUST NOT IN OUR NC BACK YARDS
We are patriotic. We have "Support our troops" stickers and magnetic ribbons on the tailgates of our pick-ups and on our cars. The training that will minimize the likelihood that these Navy Airmen will lose their lives will just have to be moved somewhere else...that's all.
What a convenient and narrowly focused outlook on sacrifice we reserve for material possessions. You say humble...I say other adjectives and superlatives apply. There was no victory here, just a progressive diminishing of integrity. Why would anyone celebrate this.
Celebrate
I too applaud the "grassroots" effort to save communities from the inconvenience created by training Navy pilots. Building another practice field would be a waste of tax dollars. Oceana jets already have practice fields (Fentress) available. Until it’s fully utilized, I see no need building more. Instead, the Navy should provide billions in necessary funding to improve Virginia's Naval facilities including infrastructure. This would be money better spent than leasing some farmers crop land.
Since Virginia will be enduring all the jet noise, N.C. residents, contribution to the “War on Terror” could be in the form of tolls at the Route 168 and 17 corridors. This money could also be used for needed improvements to infrastructure. A win-win.
Is a celebration really required?
It was a win/lose situation. The Navy lost and NC won. Now, is a celebration really neccesary? If The Navy would have won would we be clebrating? It feels like a slap in the face that these people are there CELEBRATING a so called victory over The Navy. I'm sick of people who complain about jet noise and all the rest. Hey would you radther no jets therefore no jet noise? No jets = no defense so think about it. I honestly feel so unwanted right now and no service member should feel like that. Sooooo Thanks alot People of Washington County.
VERY RESPECTFULLY
ADAN VASQUEZ USN
pierreg,
not all North Carolinians are against the OLF. I want what the USN decides will meet their needs. I am a North Carolinian. There are others that feel the way I do too. They just don't talk about it. I appreciate every base we have in Virginia as many people in my county are employed down there. As a matter of fact, it has been reported my county has the lowest unemployment figures in this market down turn. Can you guess why? Yep, they are employed in Virginia defense related fields.
VA
Virginia, unlike the Anti_Americans, in NC, will understand and support an OLF. That is the difference.
No one wants it
Note that the Gov of NC picked out some alternates to Washington County. Guess what, they don't want the OLF either.
The Gov of VA has also proposed some alternates. Guess what, they don't want it either.
So it ain't just the folks in NC who don't want the OLF.
Good point
We should close all military activities in NC!
Someone's gotta have it !!!!
The OLF is something that our military needs to practice carrier landings. Wouldn't you be proud to say that your son/daughter was a NAVY pilot and made it out of the fields in NC? Who would you blame when that son/daughter crashed while attempting to land on a carrier because they didn't have enough training, the NAVY, designer of the airplane? Blame yourself for noy allowing them the proper place to learn to land.
No one WANTS the jet noise, but I would rather hear the noise of OUR jets flying overhead than the noise of Chinese planes flying over our heads !!!!!
Just so ya know.....Beaufort Marine Corps base is surrounded by a saltmarsh. Tell me what the tree huggers are going to say about an OLF down there.
Words of Lonnie Askew
Lonnie Askew has to have said one of the most ignorant statements I have ever heard in my life. To say our military families have houses but not homes is disgusting in everyway I can think of. It is insulting and humiliating to them. What military families have means more than anything a selfish, insensitive statement like Askew made can take away from them.
God Bless You military families. I wish you didn't have to hear such trash as this article contains.
I have a home
I am appalled that this person assumes I don't have a home. I do have a home, it is where ever my family is sent. A house is something that can be replaced a home is not. A home is a place where you feel loved and cherished and have memories to share, it is not the surrounding walls that make the home it is the people within it. I can honestly say I know more military people who live in military housing who have HOMES than people out in town who have a HOUSE but it isn't a home.
Further more, I'd be willing to bet that more than half of those back water hicks support the war and encourage the president to send more and more men and women from ALL branches of service into the meat grinder that is Iraq but want to do nothing to support them.
Un-American?
When the BRAC commission decided to shut down Oceana due to the UNPATRIOTIC decades of developmental mismanagement in Va Beach and Chesapeake around Fentress and Oceana, VA officials began scrambling to save their cash cow. Now because of their UNPATRIOTIC mismanagement of the Navy's resources for DECADES, you want North Carolinians to fix your problem for you? No, this has nothing to do with patriotism for North Carolinians. This is about equitability, fairness, property rights, and the American spirit. If you want to blame someone for being unpatriotic, why don't you start looking in the mirror at your own elected officials like Mrs. Oberndorf? Or Senator Warner? Where was he when Virginia Beach was allowing itself to turn from a sleepy farming community known as Princess Anne County to a booming metropolis of half a million people?? Where were your governors throughout the decades? How about your Congressman Forbes? Take a look at his biggest contributors…developers. They could have prevented this many, many years ago. You want to find unpatriotic people. Go look in the mirror of your own Commonwealth.
Un-American
I hope the un-American mob in NC is happy. I wonder how they will feel when their so called quality of life is destroyed because our military lacked the training it needed and we lose to our enemies? To keep America strong requires citizens to at least contribute a little toward that end. Not be an obstacle and oppose everything unless it's in somebody else's backyard.
I think the government and military should close all military related bases, airfield and other facilities in NC and move them where they are appreciated for the good they do. Let the NC residents sit on their quality of life but don't let my tax money let them enjoy any of it.
Let's start a new movement. "NO MILITARY EXPENDITURES IN NORTH CAROLINA". They don't want to contribute to America's security so we don't want to contribute to their economic security. Simple equation.
Good for them
I see folks looking at the NC folks like they are stupid for saying no to this but why?
They watched the Virginia Beach area and learned that it was better to say no early. The area around Oceana wasn't developed for most of the 90's due to the noise and the landing fields. Virginia Beach started to become crowded, the local government said yes to the money but really didn't look at the problems. People moving in closer to these bases and now care omplaining about their safety and the noise levels cause they bought their houses cheaper in those areas. That goes with all those jets flying nearby!
The good people in North Carolina know there is more to life than money. They like their country setting, the wildlife preserve and their way of life. Say what you want, about them wearing shoes or being laid back or their crops. Life is about making the best choices for you and your family for now and the future. Oh, and about their patriotism, plenty from their state serve our military!
It makes on laugh. .
At how ignorant and short-sighted the Navy brass, and the DOD in general are regarding this "OLF" issue. They don't need an OLF, what they do need is someone running the show with an IQ over 90,and move all the jets to Beaufort Marine Corps in South Carolina. The have the architecture, infrastructure, and are willing to take them, but some idiot(s) in the Navy decided not to pursue it. They are wasting valuable time and money chasing a pipe dream, as no one with good common sense is going to let them build something that really need to be completely isolated by a 25 mile radius.
Patriotism
Some of you bashing the Washington County/Eastern North Carolina folks should listen to yourselves. You clearly do not know the TRUE meaning of patriotism. In fact, the things you are saying represent the exact opposite of patriotism. Since when is patriotism defined as blindly accepting everything your government says and does as gospel?? Sounds more like Red China or the old Soviet Union to me.
We do support our military PEOPLE here in North Carolina. Many of us are current and former military people ourselves or have parents or grandparents who proudly served. But our military decisions are made by POLITICIANS. Since when do we blindly accept every word or decision made by politicians? Is that your definition of patriotism? You sound like lemmings.
No, this has nothing to do with patriotism. This has everything to do with the greed and arrogance of the Cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, their local politicians, and the greedy money-grubbing developers in said cities. Truth be told, those two cities have for DECADES ignored the pleadings of the US Navy to protect their interests at Oceana and Fentress from encroachment due to development. Did you hear that