grillwalker
09-22-07, 10:11 AM
My Commentary follows the news article that you can find here : http://newsminer.com/2007/09/21/8991 As copied into this thread. There are no pictures . Why? I do not know , It is an article that could have used a few good pics of the people and familly's that remember.
Exhibit at Veterans Memorial seeks to illustrate cost of war
By Robinson Duffy
rduffy@newsminer.com
Published September 21, 2007
The empty combat boots stood in straight rows in the grass, more than 100 of them, some with scuffs and tears, others shiny and stiff. Each represented an Alaska soldier killed in Iraq since the current war started in 2003.
Around the combat boots stood rows of civilian shoes: women’s pumps, tennis shoes, children’s slippers, sandals, work boots, high-top sneakers. Each represented an Iraqi civilian killed since the United States invaded.
In all, 441 pairs of footwear filled the grassy lawn of Fairbanks’ downtown Veterans Memorial Park on Thursday as part of an exhibit hosted by the Alaska Peace Center. The shoes were lined up all day, a representation of the human cost of the war, organizers said.
“The rows of shoes, all lined up, it almost reminds me of Arlington Cemetery, our famous resting place for our fallen soldiers,” said Phil Osborn, a retired Fairbanksan who stopped to look at the exhibit.
Throughout the early afternoon, several people, including Osborn, stopped at the park, spending a few minutes each walking slowly among the shoes and boots, at times bending down to get a closer look at a name card attached to a pair of footwear. Each shoe was tagged with the name of a specific soldier or Iraqi civilian. Other people, passing by, stopped for a moment on the sidewalk with quizzical looks, taking in the odd sight of the neatly arranged shoes.
Some of the combat boots had flowers or small American flags tucked inside. One pair of boots had a newspaper article attached, telling of a memorial service held for a Palmer soldier.
“If you let yourself just realize all these names are not characters, but are real people who are now dead, I could easily have broken down in tears thinking about the loss,” Osborn said.
That emotional realization was exactly what the exhibit’s organizers were hoping for.
“This is a tangible expression of the cost of the war in human lives,” said Kathy Richmond, with the Alaska Peace Center. “Up here in Alaska we don’t really see many tangible reminders of the war. This is a small way to have a personal image.”
Richmond said she hoped people looking at the field of shoes would realize just how many Alaskans had died in Iraq. The shoes and boots were spaced about 2 feet apart, she said, to make it easier to imagine a person standing in that spot.
The shoes will be on display in Fairbanks today and Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Park. In addition to the shoes, posters arranged on the lawn show pictures of Iraqis and give brief biographies of some of the civilians who have been killed. There is also information about the monetary cost of the war.
The Fairbanks exhibit is one of a number organized around the country by the American Friends Service Committee. That international organization created its first exhibit of combat boots representing fallen soldiers in 2004 in Chicago with just over 500 boots. The exhibit displaying the national death toll was last displayed on Memorial Day 2007 with more than 3,400 pairs of boots.
Since then, the exhibition has been divided into state displays and has traveled throughout the nation to smaller cities and towns. In Alaska, the display was in Anchorage earlier this month and will be traveling to Juneau after leaving Fairbanks.
MY COMMENTARY
There's nothing like a physical dose of reality to bring a point home. Today , thinking about their boot's made me wonder. Just how many it was of them I've met and made dinner for before they were shipped out overseas. ( I'm a chef in my professional life )
Everytime I cook for a person I don't send it out until it meet's my personal standards. Even if it's "just a burger" . Moment's of heavy hitting reallity like this , makes me very glad I don't.
Too me , The men and women who have lost their lives to someone elses Jihad or politics , Deserve something more ,Than to be made into some type of an inane joke.
Normally , I'd take and delete this post I've written and write it off as being an emotional day. But for some reason I just can't quite do that. Sleep well, Whoever you are that wrote that post. Sleep well. ( The 747 icon in a jihad post was a little over the top though ) Great joke.
Exhibit at Veterans Memorial seeks to illustrate cost of war
By Robinson Duffy
rduffy@newsminer.com
Published September 21, 2007
The empty combat boots stood in straight rows in the grass, more than 100 of them, some with scuffs and tears, others shiny and stiff. Each represented an Alaska soldier killed in Iraq since the current war started in 2003.
Around the combat boots stood rows of civilian shoes: women’s pumps, tennis shoes, children’s slippers, sandals, work boots, high-top sneakers. Each represented an Iraqi civilian killed since the United States invaded.
In all, 441 pairs of footwear filled the grassy lawn of Fairbanks’ downtown Veterans Memorial Park on Thursday as part of an exhibit hosted by the Alaska Peace Center. The shoes were lined up all day, a representation of the human cost of the war, organizers said.
“The rows of shoes, all lined up, it almost reminds me of Arlington Cemetery, our famous resting place for our fallen soldiers,” said Phil Osborn, a retired Fairbanksan who stopped to look at the exhibit.
Throughout the early afternoon, several people, including Osborn, stopped at the park, spending a few minutes each walking slowly among the shoes and boots, at times bending down to get a closer look at a name card attached to a pair of footwear. Each shoe was tagged with the name of a specific soldier or Iraqi civilian. Other people, passing by, stopped for a moment on the sidewalk with quizzical looks, taking in the odd sight of the neatly arranged shoes.
Some of the combat boots had flowers or small American flags tucked inside. One pair of boots had a newspaper article attached, telling of a memorial service held for a Palmer soldier.
“If you let yourself just realize all these names are not characters, but are real people who are now dead, I could easily have broken down in tears thinking about the loss,” Osborn said.
That emotional realization was exactly what the exhibit’s organizers were hoping for.
“This is a tangible expression of the cost of the war in human lives,” said Kathy Richmond, with the Alaska Peace Center. “Up here in Alaska we don’t really see many tangible reminders of the war. This is a small way to have a personal image.”
Richmond said she hoped people looking at the field of shoes would realize just how many Alaskans had died in Iraq. The shoes and boots were spaced about 2 feet apart, she said, to make it easier to imagine a person standing in that spot.
The shoes will be on display in Fairbanks today and Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Park. In addition to the shoes, posters arranged on the lawn show pictures of Iraqis and give brief biographies of some of the civilians who have been killed. There is also information about the monetary cost of the war.
The Fairbanks exhibit is one of a number organized around the country by the American Friends Service Committee. That international organization created its first exhibit of combat boots representing fallen soldiers in 2004 in Chicago with just over 500 boots. The exhibit displaying the national death toll was last displayed on Memorial Day 2007 with more than 3,400 pairs of boots.
Since then, the exhibition has been divided into state displays and has traveled throughout the nation to smaller cities and towns. In Alaska, the display was in Anchorage earlier this month and will be traveling to Juneau after leaving Fairbanks.
MY COMMENTARY
There's nothing like a physical dose of reality to bring a point home. Today , thinking about their boot's made me wonder. Just how many it was of them I've met and made dinner for before they were shipped out overseas. ( I'm a chef in my professional life )
Everytime I cook for a person I don't send it out until it meet's my personal standards. Even if it's "just a burger" . Moment's of heavy hitting reallity like this , makes me very glad I don't.
Too me , The men and women who have lost their lives to someone elses Jihad or politics , Deserve something more ,Than to be made into some type of an inane joke.
Normally , I'd take and delete this post I've written and write it off as being an emotional day. But for some reason I just can't quite do that. Sleep well, Whoever you are that wrote that post. Sleep well. ( The 747 icon in a jihad post was a little over the top though ) Great joke.