Anne Jaegerman has become a familiar figure to early morning commuters heading in and out of Washington over the Memorial Bridge.
Every weekday since mid-September, she has stood on the edge of Memorial Circle, the site of President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot tall triumphal arch, holding a small American flag and a homemade sign of white felt with the words “NO ARCH” written on it in blue and “Respect Veterans” in red.
The 69-year-old retired preschool teacher is almost always alone, bundled against the morning chill on cold mornings and wearing a big floppy hat to keep the rising sun from her eyes. The hardest part, she said, is when her sneakers get soaked by the circle’s lush, dewy grass.
Jaegerman said she has maintained her one-woman crusade against Trump’s proposal for the arch and his rush to have it built because the process strikes her as fundamentally un-American.
“It’s an affront to the Constitution and to citizens,” she said. “This is not how things work in a democracy.”
In January, Trump told reporters that he wanted the arch to be the largest in the world. “I’d like it to be the biggest one of all,” he said. “We’re the biggest, most powerful nation.”
The arch will become “one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement sent to The Washington Post in January. “President Trump’s bold vision will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and be felt by generations to come.”
The Post reported in September that Trump administration officials acknowledged that the arch would unavoidably harm historic sites.
The “adverse effects cannot be fully avoided,” Park Service officials wrote in a National Park Service document obtained by The Post. But, they said, the project cannot be constructed somewhere else because “the proposed location at Memorial Circle is central to the undertaking,” according to the document.
For Jaegerman, building memorials and statues should result from carefully considered arguments and consensus. Public discourse should determine who or what America honors and how it does that, she said. She doesn’t think the planned arch has come close to meeting that standard.
Standing on the circle holding her sign is a reminder to those driving by, Jaegerman said, that “this is where the arch is going to be and we can still speak out against it.”
Cars and tour buses whiz past, many drivers honking their approval or waving in support. One person recently stopped to give her a Starbucks gift card.
The responses from drivers aren’t always encouraging. Occasionally Jaegerman has to squint to see if she’s being flashed a peace sign or flipped the bird. She’s been yelled at to “get a job” and “get a life.”
But Jaegerman says 99 percent of her encounters have been positive. “They’re saying you’re not alone, we support you,” she said.
Occasionally she will get a salute. Jaegerman isn’t a veteran but she said veterans have told her they appreciate her being out there.
Three Vietnam War veterans have challenged the arch in court arguing they have grounds to sue because the arch, which would stand directly between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, would degrade their experience of visiting the military cemetery where nearly 430,000 people are buried.
Some veterans groups have come out in support of the arch though that move sparked division within the Vietnam Veterans of America. The board of the organization’s Northern Virginia chapter voted Thursday evening to join the lawsuit against the arch.
On Monday, as she has for the past seven weeks, Jaegerman plans to take the bus from her home in Northwest Washington and transfer to the Metro downtown for the short ride to the Arlington Cemetery station. It has become her daily commute to make a stand.
The Trump administration has said it hopes to begin construction on the arch project on Thursday, two days after the midterms. If that happens, Jaegerman expects she will no longer be allowed to protest on the circle.
She said she will move to a spot nearby holding a new sign: “This construction is unconstitutional.”
Dan Diamond contributed to this report.
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