Eyes Wide Open Exhibit-Human Cost of the Iraq War

Run time: 07:54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhJo1w_F5Kc   Posted on YouTube: February 17, 2007 By YouTube Member: zulchzulu Views on YouTube: 724   Posted on DU: February 17, 2007 By DU Member: zulchzulu Views on DU: 607

 
This is a video of the exhibit in Milwaukee, WI in 2004. There were 1,128 dead US soldiers at the time. There are now 3,133 (http://icasualties.org/oif/) at the time of this posting.

http://www.afsc.org/eyes/

From the site:
Eyes Wide Open, the American Friends Service Committee's widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty, a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and consequences of the war.

The orchestral soundtrack is performed by Rex Alpha And The Paranoids.

http://rc.smugmug.com/gallery/1644442#80331070





July 8, 2006
Fargo ND

http://www.afsc.org/iraq/cray-video.htm
His album was up for a Grammy last year.

I was able to d/l this video from the above site

Last November 1, as the sun rose over a farm near Dover, New Hampshire the Eyes Wide Open crew once again began laying out more than two thousand pairs of boots representing the U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq. But this was not a standard stop on the nation-wide tour of AFSC’s acclaimed anti-war exhibit.

The boots were being prepared to play a role in a music video for blues musician Robert Cray’s poignant new song, “Twenty”, telling the story of a young soldier, who questions his mission in Iraq, but is killed before his deployment is up.

The truck carries the Eyes Wide Open boots into the field seen in the video. Photo: Marq Anderson / AFSC
Photo: Marq Anderson / AFSC

The video, directed by Robert Cray’s wife, Susan Turner-Cray stars Aidan Delgado, a 23-year-old Iraq-war veteran who served in Nasiriyah and at Abu Ghraib prison, before securing conscientious objector status and returning to the U.S. David Goodman, one of the Eyes Wide Open tour managers, has a cameo role in the video as a Vietnam Veteran.

Aidan Delgado, an Iraq War veteran, portrays a soldier in the video. Photo: Marq Anderson / AFSC
Photo: Marq Anderson / AFSC

The Crays had heard about the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, but had not seen it when they began developing ideas for the music video. They contacted the Chicago AFSC office and began arrangements to feature the exhibit in the production. After many potential sites were considered, the rolling hills behind the New Hampshire farmhouse of Todd and Kristin Adelman was offered and chosen. Cinematographer, Jonathon Millman signed on to shoot the video and other local actors and crew joined the effort – donating their time out of commitment to the concept.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Cray’s album, also named “Twenty” has been nominated for a Grammy as Best Contemporary Blues Album.