Michael Funke moved to Bend nearly two years ago to pursue his fly-fishing hobby.

But when the war with Iraq started on March 20, Funke, 56, a retired assistant editor for a union magazine, started devoting his time and efforts to protesting the war.

Funke is one of 22 percent of Americans who oppose the war with Iraq, according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted on Thursday.

Throughout the past three weeks, poll numbers have barely fluctuated. About 70 percent of the people support war and a little more than 20 percent oppose it.

In Bend, nearly 200 people, including Funke, participated in a March 29 peace rally and march from Troy Field to downtown Bend.

And dozens of people have attended weekly peace vigils on Fridays at the corner of Greenwood and NW Third Street since Jan. 31.

Some hold antiwar signs. Others wave to passing cars. And many stand there to support each other.

”I think if you’re going to live in a democracy and participate in it, if there is something you disagree with, you have an obligation to voice your objection,” Funke said.

”Dissent in wartime is one of the most democratic activities you can engage in.”

Funke works with Bend’s Human Dignity Coalition, a group of residents who banded together to address social, political, cultural and economic issues. He is a former board member.

The idea was to bring people in the community together to decide what to do about the war, he said. As events progressed, some people wanted to make their views known.

Funke’s own history of opposing war started when he said he refused to be drafted for the Vietnam War. He also participated in rallies against the first Gulf War, he said.

”I don’t believe war is necessary,” he said. ”I think this war is wrong on a human, moral and economic level.”

He hopes the U.S. will soon withdraw its troops.

”You can oppose war and support the U.S. soldiers to the extent that you don’t want to see them get killed,” he said

Fernando Gapasin

A retired professor who specialized in labor issues at Penn State and Chicano studies at UCLA, Fernando Gapasin, 57, has made a career out of promoting civil rights.

Now, Gapasin, who say says he is a Vietnam veteran, spends many of his days protesting the war with Iraq.

”I’m not opposed to war in general, but this one is built on lies,” said Gapasin, who now lives in Bend.

So week after week, Gapasin has carried a sign at the Bend peace vigils that reads, ”Vietnam vet demands U.S. troops out of Iraq and the Phillipines.”

Gapasin also questioned the Bush administration’s motives for going to war. He doesn’t believe in the link between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden and thinks the U.S. is trying to build an empire.

”This war reminds me of the Mexican-American War, which was clearly for territory, and the U.S. was the aggressor,” he said.

When asked what his views toward war were based on, Gapasin referred to a petition circulated on the Internet promoting peace and justice.

”I care about the humanity of the world around me,” he said. ”I would rather see peace.”

Ann Kelly

Ann Kelly, 58, of Bend, said she doesn’t make a habit of marching in protest to war, as she did at a March 29 peace rally in Bend.

Instead, she prefers writing letters to the editor, sending letters to Congress and calling the White House to voice her opposition to war.

But this war with Iraq has motivated Kelly to take a stand in public – even at the expense of her own fears.

”It makes me nervous because you’re standing out there saying what you believe and people can go by and do whatever they want,” she said. ”I’m a little shy about that. But I think this is the most horrible thing that has happened in the last 50 years.”

Kelly, a retired bookkeeper, supported the first Gulf War.

”I felt it was a measured response and justifiable,” she said. ”It was an inconclusive end, but Saddam was out of Kuwait and the people of the region supported what was done.”

But for Kelly, this war is different because she believes it will cause more terrorism and anti-American sentiment.

”I don’t think war was the way to go,” she said. ”It will take a long time to put Iraq back together.”

She’s concerned other countries might want to attack the U.S. again.

”Now there is no moral high ground for anyone else to start war,” she said. ”There is nothing we can say because we have started a war.”

And so, Kelly continues to voice her opposition in public, which started when she attended a Veterans Day peace rally last November.

”We have to keep saying that war is a bad idea,” she said. ”Otherwise, Bush thinks people support it.”

And for her, opposing the war doesn’t mean that she can’t support the troops.

”I think it’s emotional blackmail for people to say if you’re not supporting our troops, you’re horrible,” she said. ”All the people who are fighting are young Americans who I would like to have come home.”

Rhonda Ealy

Rhonda Ealy, 35, has attended the Bend peace vigils every week, carrying the same sign – a dove holding the world.

For the Bend resident, standing on the corner week after week has been a stand against war, but also against the people who react angrily to her views.

”Those same people who drive by and flip us off and yell at us, I want to show them that we’re resilient,” she said. ”Peace doesn’t have to be fragile. We can be strong and want peace, too.”

Ealy, a small business owner, also hopes that making her views known to the public will inspire others to take that same leap.

”I think there are a lot of people who are afraid to say anything,” she said. ”That’s why I stand on the corner to give others who believe the way I do some assurance.”

In the early 90s, Ealy said she went to an anti-war rally in Washington D.C., to protest the first Gulf War.

A decade later and in a different war, Ealy’s views remain the same.

”I believe this war is wrong because the motivation is oil,” she said. ”But any war is wrong.”

For Ealy, protesting in Bend is a way of adding strength to worldwide opposition.

”The whole world is protesting and I just want to be a part of that,” she said. ”The more numbers we show, maybe things will change. Maybe there won’t be any war some day.”

Ernestine Bousquet can be reached at 541-382-1811, Ext. 387, or at ebousquet@bendbulletin.com.