Veterans, families divided over relocating pear trees
Feelings run high in bypass construction flap
BY MATT DEES
DAILY NEWS STAFF

To some outside Jacksonville, the furor generated by news that 111 Bradford pear trees would have to be removed from their location along Lejeune Boulevard might be hard to understand.

But Mike Ferguson understands all too well. He learned the trees would be removed for the U.S. 17 bypass and responded on the Beirut Memorial Web site.

"What if the proposed extension were on the beaches of Normandy or at the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C.?" wrote Ferguson, a Beirut veteran. "This is one of the very few places we, as Beirut veterans, can find peace. Please leave it alone!"

Ferguson and others from around the nation were quick to comment on an issue outside their hometowns. Like most in Jacksonville, they know that those aren't ordinary trees.

Each of those 271 trees lining Lejeune Boulevard represents a service member who fell in Beirut, Lebanon, including the 241 who died when a terrorist drove a truck full of explosives into a barracks on Oct. 23, 1983. Most of the fatalities included Marines and sailors from Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station.

That event galvanized the then-fragile bonds between Jacksonville and surrounding military installations. The trees are touchstones for Beirut veterans and the families of those killed in the bombing.

The idea of tampering with them, especially to make way for a highway ramp, infuriated many who sent e-mail the Beirut Memorial Web site.

Beirut veteran James Wilder wrote, "I find it ironic that these 18-year-old trees are now the same age as many of those young men, when they were 'cut down' during the bombing!

"There was no way we could have protected them the first time, but we can the second time around."

Earlier this week, the city of Jacksonville and the Department of Transportation agreed to move the trees from near the Camp Johnson entrance to near Camp Lejeune's main gate. That's good enough for some, but still unacceptable to others.

"You know, it's progress," said Judith Young, co-founder of the Beirut Connection, a support network for victims' families, from her home in Moorestown, N.J. Her son, Sgt. Jeffrey D. Young, was killed in the barracks bombing.

"I think most of the families would agree. I think they would certainly understand," she said. "I think as long as they're kept together, that's OK."

Ed McDonough of Pittsburgh, whose brother James, was killed as he slept in the barracks, disagreed.

"You can't tell me the (N.C. Department of Transportation) doesn't have more than one plan," McDonough said. "There should be some other plan they have that does not disrupt these trees at all."

To the argument that most of the trees in the median of Lejeune Boulevard have had to be replaced anyway because of storms or errant drivers, McDonough replied, "You have no control over these things whatsoever. But to blatantly transplant these trees, that's wrong.

"They've had 20 years to figure this out," he said, referring to the fact that the DOT has had this plan in the works since the early 1980s. "This is a memorial. That's like moving Iwo Jima or the Washington Monument."

Matt McConnell, reached in Wauseon, Ohio, was a Marine stationed in Beirut when the barracks was bombed.

He seemed torn, taking long pauses before voicing his opinion. He said he doesn't think the trees should be moved, but realizes there are logistical obstacles.

"I guess really if the land belongs to them then you really don't have a lot of choice in the matter," McConnell said.

Lejeune Boulevard is part of N.C. 24, which means it is technically state property.

"It just seems it's wrong to move 'em. Then again, you have to accept it and count your losses," McConnell said.

Many said the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 brought back memories of the barracks bombing, which also involved a suicide terrorist assault.

That made the news that the Beirut Memorial trees were in jeopardy all the more jolting, especially as the nation was resolving never to forget the latest tragedy.

"I thought, 'Wow, the timing of this really (stunk),'" said Dan Joy, who was a Marine stationed in Beirut and now works for the Onslow County Water Department.

"But I just think if it has to be done, it has to be done."

Lorraine Coulman, of Oneonta, N.Y., whose son, Staff Sgt. Kevin Coulman, was killed in the barracks bombing, echoed the feeling expressed by many in this area: We don't like it, but it's the next best thing.

"It sounds like they're trying to do what they have to do," she said. "They're not going to kill the idea of why the trees are there."

Coulman cautioned that while it's important to be realistic, a similar sense of protectionism must accompany any future instances where the past and the future are at odds.

"I know that life goes on, but we can't forget."

Matt Dees can be contacted at mdees@jdnews.com or 353-1171, Ext. 239.