Memorial Mile

By Jessica Newman

While President Obama pledges to phase the American military out of harm’s way in Iraq, he also pledges to increase its presence in Afghanistan, a place where most military experts say we have no chance of winning a war with force. More than 4,900 soldiers have died since the global war on terror began in 2001 with the invasion of Afghanistan and spread into Iraq in 2003.

This Memorial Day, Veterans for Peace will remember the fallen service members by displaying more than 4,900 tombstones from dawn on May 23 to dusk on Memorial Day. The tombstones will line the street along Eighth Avenue just east of 34th Street, where the Solar System Walk is located.

This is the third year Veterans for Peace has set up the display, but it is the first time that the tombstones will have to line both the north and south sides of Eight Avenue because of the increased number of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last year, the display, which is also known as Memorial Mile, was made up of 4,500 tombstones. This year more than 400 will be added, each one representing an American service member whose life was lost. But this year, there are more deaths from the war in Afghanistan than the first three years of the war combine.

Veterans for Peace feels that these losses cannot be adequately understood with facts and figures alone. The visual impact of the tombstones contains the reality of these numbers.

Each tombstone will include the soldier’s name, date of death, age, branch of service, rank and hometown. They will be arranged by date of death.

Soldiers with local ties will have American flags placed on their tombstones so that they may be located more easily. Veterans for Peace will have a list available at an information table to direct the public to specific tombstones. Last year, people came to the Memorial Mile to place flowers and other expressions of love at the tombstones.

In addition, the group will have posters depicting the cost of war, as well as the Peace Ribbon, a collection of panels sewn by loved ones of those who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan on the north side of the street.

For more information on the Memorial Mile or Veterans for Peace, visit the group’s web site at www.afn.org/~vetpeace.