From the Feb 20 – Feb 26, 2003 issue

News

Mick Flynn's Radical T-Shirt

I Went to Tacoma's McChord Air Force Base, and All I Got Was This Pro-War T-Shirt

by Amy Jenniges

The exit ramp for Tacoma's McChord Air Force Base was backed up onto the shoulder of I-5, and drivers kept pulling over to join the queue. Folks wanted to get off the freeway, find a parking space, and join the hundreds of people already gathered on the overpass on Saturday morning, February 15.

On both sides of the four-lane overpass, crowds of people leaned over the railings, waving American flags with all their might. Every time a driver honked, the crowd got louder, as people shouted "U.S.A.!" or a simple "Thank you!"

This was the largest-to-date "Support the Troops" rally, timed to coincide with massive antiwar marches in Seattle and around the world. For over two hours, about 2,000 people demonstrated their support for the armed forces, despite the chilly and damp weather.

Just west of the overpass, near a Union 76 gas station and a muddy makeshift parking lot, Mick Flynn stood quietly by the curb. "God Bless America" blared from a tinny stereo a few yards away. Wearing his father's old Air Force jacket, Flynn waited by two large plastic bins of T-shirts and watched the crowd until a prospective customer approached.

"What's your T-shirt say?" someone would ask every few minutes, eyes drawn to Flynn's sign offering shirts for $10. Flynn replied by parting his jacket to show off the red-white-and-blue design. The logo, "War on Iraq," is done in the same familiar design seen all over Seattle--and, by now, the rest of the country--on antiwar protesters' "No Iraq War" signs. "It's a play on words. I'm having fun with the other side. My other [shirt] idea--'Kick Their Ass and Take Their Gas'--is a little more radical," says Flynn, a 50-year-old with short graying hair and hip red-and-white shoes.

The response? Laughter from some, who promptly pulled out their wallets--some put the shirt on right away--and a shocked look from others, who told Flynn they don't want war, and they're just at the rally to show appreciation for the troops. Flynn was quick to tell those folks that he doesn't like war, but a war on Iraq looks inevitable. As for selling the T-shirts, he had a simple answer.

"I'm a capitalist," says Flynn, who lives just south of Seattle.

This T-shirt endeavor is just the latest in Flynn's long and varied entrepreneurial resumé. He's dealt vintage guitars and other instruments for years, managed security at the Museum of Flight, and painted airplanes and aviator jackets with World War II-style "nose art." Most recently, he owned a vintage British clothing store on the University District's Ave. When the storefront closed not long after September 11, he continued to sell "Brit Gear" via the Internet.

Two weeks ago, he had the T-shirt idea. Flynn printed a few and took them to a Bellevue "Support the Troops" rally on February 8. He quickly sold out, and printed more shirts in time for this rally. While the original idea is a spoof of the "No Iraq War" signs, Flynn didn't just cut and paste. "I built it from scratch. The font is a little bit different," he points out. By the end of today's rally, he sold out again, racking up about $700 for 70-plus shirts.

Two women who traveled the 40 miles from Seattle approached Flynn to ask about his shirts. They laughed at the logo, but didn't want one. "If I wore that in Seattle, I'd get shot or spit on," one of the women joked. Her friend agreed, noting the time she toted a pro-police sign to a police accountability rally just after the WTO demonstrations in 1999. A protester spit on her.

Flynn points out that he was a liberal "up through Clinton," and he's generally antiwar. "I don't think war is a good thing, but in this case I think we have to go to war," he says.

Flynn's attitude was matched by most at the rally. Though there were plenty of provocative signs--"Whack Iraq," "Trust Bush, Not Saddam," "Attack Saddam? Yes!"--few folks said they wanted war, though most seemed to think it's inevitable. With that scenario in mind, they wanted to stand up for the troops and balance out the antiwar protesters. And, judging from Flynn's success, they apparently wanted T-shirts too.

amy@thestranger.com