Sunday, April 6, 2003
BILLOWING SUPPORT
By Jason Tait
Staff Writer
METHUEN -- James Seregio-Wareing has a new routine before work.
In the last three weeks, Seregio-Wareing, 44, has slowly assembled 122 red, white and blue U.S. flags on two bridges -- at Howe Street and Route 213 over Interstate 495 -- to show support for the war effort in Iraq.
He adds a couple of flags each time, in the morning before rush-hour traffic.
"When I drive down the street and see those flags," he said, "it gives me such pride in my country, government and neighbors. You just feel good to be an American."
Tens of thousands of commuters have seen Seregio-Wareing's work, and many honk in support when they see him adding new flags.
His first flags went on the Howe Street bridge just after Sept. 11, 2001. They stayed there for more than a year. When the war debate was heating up, Seregio-Wareing started decorating again.
"I used to be a patriot," he said. "Then Sept. 11 put me overboard."
He is an overachieving patriot, said his friend Beverly St. Hilaire of Salem, N.H.
She noted his license plate, which is "LOVUSA," and e-mail address, "UGOT2LOVEAMERICA@aol.com." He canceled a trip to Canada because a youth hockey team from Brockton was booed there recently.
"He is just a true American," St. Hilaire said. "I enjoy that someone actually cares what our men and women are doing (at war) to help us for our lives and freedom."
Drivers may recall one of Seregio-Wareing's first public displays of patriotism.
He visited Ground Zero in New York City days after Sept. 11. He returned to Methuen angry, and in the front lawn of his Howe Street home he erected a 10-foot-high missile with replicas of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein tied to it.
Seregio-Wareing's secondary motive for displaying the flags, after his support for the military, is to counter anti-war protesters.
"The protesters are a small minority, but they are getting" a lot of publicity, Seregio-Wareing said. "By having the flags on the bridges it makes people think about what we're in this war for."
But do not confuse Seregio-Wareing for a right-wing hawk, he said.
This is the same Seregio-Wareing, featured in The Eagle-Tribune two years ago, who drove 10 hours to Washington, D.C., to see lawyers argue on ballot recounts in the Florida presidential race before the Supreme Court.
He was for Al Gore, and marched around the capital cheering for continued recounts.
A staunch Democrat, Seregio-Wareing has become a fan of President Bush's war on terror. He may even vote for Bush next year, only because he believes national security is the nation's top concern and he believes Bush has done well.
"I've changed," he said. "I even find it funny."
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