Empty Boots on the Ground in L.A.: Eyes Wide Open

Empty Boots on the Ground in L.A.: Eyes Wide Open
17 March 2005


A poignant reminder of the human cost of the war in Iraq is currently on display in Los Angeles…

"A stunningly simple memorial -- 1,519 pairs of boots -- on display in Southern California this weekend provides a reminder of war's human toll.

Eyes Wide Open, the American Friends Service Committee’s exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, is a traveling display. It features a pair of boots representing each U.S. military casualty.

"They're very young guys -- they hardly even started their lives," said one visitor.

It also features a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize Iraqis killed in the conflict. A multimedia display involves the history, cost and consequences of the war.

Some of the boots are the same worn by men and women who took their last steps in Iraq.

"I see soldiers in each one of these shoes," said another visitor.

Many of the boots have items, such as newspaper clippings and personal possessions, attached to the laces.

"I see a lot of families," a woman said. "I see grieving mothers."

MORE - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=575

for bush's bullshit & greed! Those soldiers knew what they signed up for -being rushed to an illegal war of aggression without enough ammo and rifles and body armor etc!

Soldiers die...suck it up!

They should be forgotten and never spoken of, that's why bush won't allow photos of home-coming coffins and refuses to hold any national memorials!

They're America's dirty secret we sneak back into the US during the middle of the night in their transfer tubes.

WHY does LA hate America???

<stupidest MFers on the planet rightwingnut mode now turned off>

GAWD I detest warmongering chickenshit rightwingnut MFers.

with what you said about them knowing what they signed up for. HOWEVER, I saw this memorial thing as it passed through Lansing, MI and they do have street shoes set aside designating civilian deaths. The whole thing isn't meant to glorify our soldiers or anything, but it is meant to bring the casualties to a place where some of us may better understand. Not everybody has someone in their family who is enlisted, and this, to those without daily reminders, is to show them what this war is costing us, not only as a nation, but the world in general. I have no pity for those who willingly commit themselves to killing other people, especially if there is no point, other than the prospect of privatizing Iraq... but I still found "Eyes Wide Open" to still be quite heartwrenching (especially because it had a lot of info pertaining to Iraqi casualties... I dunno if that was just a Michigan thing or not)

It was all very much pure sarcasm.

I know what the Empty Boots tour is about; my friend is one of the people involved in arranging it. 14 pairs of those boots are from people whose funerals I attended during 2003 & 2004.

(And NO they DID NOT KNOW they were signing up to be rushed to ILLEGAL Hitler-esque wars of aggression and not even provided with enough ammo & rifles.)

tonight is not my night for sarcasm. And no, they did not know they were signing up for this stupid war, I know that. But I know a lot of people who have gone off and joined on the premise of "killin' dem terrrrists", knowing full well what has gone on and what IS going on. There are those who signed up with decent intentions, I know, and I support the troops as much as the next person... I guess I should've clarified myself and said that I don't support the men BEHIND the troops.. the ones that pushed them into this war. ;(
... I'm having one of those nights right now... my brain is fried after today, so sarcasm has a way of rolling off of me.

What's so scary is it's harder every day in America to know if people are being sarcastic or serious. I hear the craziest shit...and when I laugh, that's when I find out they were being serious, not sarcastic! LOL!

:eyes:

And all the more obvious how powerful it is by the reaction of the war-mongers when they see it and figure out what it is (usually takes anywhere from 15 seconds to two minutes or more).

I helped with the set-up and take down last July in Charleston, West Virginia during the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. We got a lot of positive comments, thumbs-ups and horn honks and waves from passersby and some nice local news coverage.

Unfortunately, we also got a lot of flipped fingers, angry looks and shaken fists directed our way, as if by demonstrating how many lives had been lost the display was somehow responsible for all these deaths.

But I would say that for the most part, folks understood what was happening, were respectful not only of the display but its spirit, and it accomplished a good purpose: Making people stop for a moment and actually think about the situation our country was in, rather than just let the tide of events wash over them.

I put this album together at the request of the local AFSC.
There are 39 photos from the indoor/outdoor event.
It has received very positive feedback.


http://kcsnapshots.digitalstyledesigns.com/

and BIG THANKS for your volunteer work on the exhibit...we need more like you to help with this ALL OVER AMERICA....