Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Staff photo by Doug Jones
Dawn Swiger, a cousin of Sgt. Jason Swiger, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq this week, greets friends of the family at the Thomas Room, a function hall in South Portland where family and friends gathered Tuesday afternoon.
Staff photo by Gordon Chibroski
From left, Chelsea Swiger, B.J. Laidlaw, Katie Swiger and Lindsey Swiger get yellow ribbons ready for attaching Tuesday at the Thomas Room in South Portland. On Monday, city councilors temporarily suspended a rule that prohibits yellow ribbons on public property.
SOUTH PORTLAND - Dozens of friends, family members and supporters gathered Tuesday to decorate city property with yellow ribbons in honor of Jason Swiger, the 24-year-old Army sergeant killed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq this week.
For Swiger's mother, who waged an unsuccessful fight four years ago to hang yellow ribbons around the city, it was a bittersweet moment.
"The circle has finally closed," Valorie Swiger said.
She was once at the center of an intense citywide debate over the posting of yellow ribbons on utility poles and city property.
The debate boiled over when the city granted her permission to decorate public property in yellow, but reversed course when other residents questioned whether the ribbons could be interpreted as a political message.
The decorations served as more of a memorial Tuesday, the day after city councilors temporarily suspended a rule that prohibits yellow ribbons on public property. The council decision came as South Portlanders mourned two recent losses in Iraq.
About 20 family members and friends set out Tuesday afternoon from the Thomas Room on Broadway, their cars and trucks loaded with yellow ribbons donated by a local florist.
Family friend Mike Maietta, 34, of South Portland estimated the group used 1,000 ribbons and affixed them to nearly every utility pole on Broadway. Well-wishers also decorated the Casco Bay Bridge, shopping centers and other high-visibility locations.
They said they got a warm welcome from passers-by, who honked and stopped to ask whether they could help.
"They were stopping dead in traffic, asking for them," said Dawn Swiger, 27, of South Portland, a cousin of Jason Swiger.
The Swigers thanked the community for the support. They said they wished the ribbon issue could have been resolved under different circumstances.
"It's just kind of sad that it came to this," Dawn Swiger said.
The ribbon debate took off in fall 2003, just months after the start of the war in Iraq.
Valorie Swiger got permission from the City Council to hang yellow ribbons on city property to show support for soldiers, including her son, then 21, who was on the first of three tours of duty in Iraq with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
But complaints poured in from residents who interpreted the ribbons as a political statement in support of President Bush and the invasion of Iraq. The City Council ordered the ribbons taken down, a move that triggered complaints from local veterans organizations.
The debate spilled over into the national media and became talk show fodder. The issue was hot for months and affected a City Council election. Ultimately, the council upheld the order.
On Monday -- after learning of Jason Swiger's death on Sunday -- the council unanimously reversed its position. The six councilors, many of whom were not on the council four years ago, voted to allow yellow ribbons on any city property until April 27, to honor Swiger and fellow South Portland High School graduate Marine Pfc. Angel Rosa, 21, who died March 13 in combat in Iraq's Anbar province. Rosa was promoted posthumously to lance corporal.
"They were very enthusiastic, all for it," said Councilor Kay Loring.
Valorie Swiger said that although it is too late for her son, she was grateful for the council's decision. Four years ago, she said, she told the council her motive was to make sure the soldiers serving in Iraq knew their efforts were appreciated, instead of expressing those sentiments posthumously.
Swiger said she wished one of her biggest supporters during the 2003 ribbon fight, former South Portland Mayor Ralph Kilgore, were alive to see yellow ribbons lining Broadway.
Kilgore died Sunday, the same day a suicide bomber killed Swiger in Iraq's northeastern Diyala province.
The two men were friends, Valorie Swiger said. On Tuesday, she imagined them meeting. "I think Ralph is saying, 'Yes, we did it,' and I think Jason is saying, 'See, I told you not to mess with my momma,'" she said.
Former Councilor Chris Bowring, who met with family members, said he plans to call current council members and ask them to introduce a proposal to make the temporary ribbon allowance permanent.
On Tuesday, friends and family descended on the Swiger home at 77 School St., where Maine National Guard representatives appeared Sunday night to confirm the news delivered in a telephone call from Valorie Swiger's daughter-in-law, Alanna Swiger, in Fayetteville, N.C.
Jason Swiger was in a Humvee traveling between two U.S. camps with five other soldiers when the convoy they were riding in stopped, said family members. Swiger and other soldiers in the Humvee got out to hand candy to some children when a motorcyclist approached and blew himself up, killing Swiger and three others, his mother said.
Bouquets of flowers arrived at the Swiger home Monday and Tuesday, and Maine's congressional delegation and Gov. John Baldacci sent condolences.
Melissa Odiorne, 19, of South Portland decorated her car with window paint after she learned of Jason Swiger's death Monday morning. Odiorne painted a memorial to either Jason Swiger, Rosa or both on every window.
She was friends with both soldiers, and said the two deaths made her think deeply about the soldiers fighting in a war she and many of her friends oppose.
"When it hits you at home, it makes you have a different perspective," said Odiorne, who helped with the ribbons.
"We can't forget anybody over there," Odiorne said.
Details of Swiger's burial, which will be in South Portland, were not yet available Tuesday.
Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:
Staff Writer Elbert Aull can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:
eaull@pressherald.com
Reader comments
Sort by: Oldest First | Newest first
My only concern is, since this is a private initiative, that those that put up the ribbons take them down.
But the circumstances, the fact two South Portland natives dying, and the will of a segment of the population will all be moot in about an hour or so as this comment area becomes yet another discussion ground for the war in Iraq...report abuse
"Melissa Odiorne ... was friends with both soldiers, and said the two deaths made her think deeply about the soldiers fighting in a war she and many of her friends oppose... 'We can't forget anybody over there,' Odiorne said."
Thank you Melissa Odiorne. Yes, it is
possible to honor these young men without
having to glorify a war about which opinions
are very mixed. Her statement was most
appropriately personal -- not political.report abuse
I prefer to offer consolation to the mourners
and light a candle within the conscience.
report abuse
Show all 75 comments
You must be a registered user of MaineToday.com to post a comment. Register or log in.