STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — With the sixth anniversary of the Iraq War approaching, local activists created a memorial: a remembrance of the fallen built upon the sands — of South Beach, in Staten Island. And although the cemetery crosses were symbolic, the sacrifices being honored were the real thing — as was the desire of the organizers to bring all U.S. troops home as soon as possible.
Early on the morning of Saturday, March 14, 2009, members of the Staten Island chapter of Movement for a Democratic Society joined with activists from Military Families Speak Out, September Eleventh Families For Peaceful Tomorrows and Peace Action Staten Island to produce a field of crosses on South Beach – each one representing a New York State resident killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Organizers called their exhibit “Arlington New York State” — a reference to Arlington National Cemetery. and the “Arlington West” exhibit maintained by Veterans For Peace in Santa Barbara, California. The memorial was open to the public and ran through the weekend.
Military boots and a photograph of a fallen soldier
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
The Arlington New York State memorial included an element not present in Santa Barbara: the “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit produced by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Eyes Wide Open is a collection of military boots and Iraqi civilian shoes, each tagged with the name of a victim of the Iraq War. Arlington NYS organizers placed military boots from the AFSC exhibit next to each cross – attaching a name, and in some cases a photograph, to the symbolic grave. In addition, some graves contained personal items donated by the families of the fallen soldier to the Eyes Wide Open display.
The field of 220 cemetery style crosses — 184 for Iraq, 36 for Afghanistan — was arrayed in formation behind a large U.S. flag. The exhibit stretched from the boardwalk to the sea, running west to east. On the northern edge an Afghani flag fluttered. To the south, an Iraqi flag was the centerpiece of the collection of civilian shoes, representing the 1.3 million Iraqis who have died as a result of the war and occupation.
The stark rows of soldiers’ crosses, some with Muslim crescents and others with Stars of David attached — representing the faiths of the individual fallen — transformed the busy South Beach boardwalk into a reminder of the cost of war.
NY1’s Tamani Wooley interviews Tom Miles of Movement for a Democratic Society
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
At 1 p.m. on Saturday, a press conference was held to explain the exhibit to the media and the curious. Speakers included Elaine Brower of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iris Bieri of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), David Poleshuck, chair of Peace Action Staten Island (PASI), Cheryl Wertz, executive director of Peace Action New York State, Adele Welty of September Eleventh Families For Peaceful Tomorrows, Anna Berlinrut of Military Families Speak Out (New Jersey chapter), Debra Anderson of MFSO and Movement for a Democratic Society and NLN editor Thomas Good.
Adele Welty, who lost her son, a firefighter, on September 11, 2001, visited Iraq last August. While there Welty met with an organization called La Onf — Arabic for “nonviolence”. Welty told the crowd that La Onf is committed to using nonviolence to end the war in Iraq and that they gave her a message to deliver to the United States.
“They said, ‘tell Americans that there are Iraqis who do not believe in violence’…that we can have that hope — that they are willing to risk their lives to demonstrate for nonviolence,” said Welty. “And I want you to take that away with you today,” she added.
Iris Bieri of the American Friends Service Committee
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Iris Bieri, project coordinator for the AFSC’s Eyes Wide Open exhibit, told the crowd that making the human cost of the Iraq War real to observers was the goal but that it impacted on her as well.
“I think the hardest part of my job, I was telling a reporter here earlier, is that I have blank boots in my office. And I have to look at the blank boots and wonder, you know, who is next. Whose tag do I have to put on that next pair of blank boots? And I am really hoping that…the Obama administration will stick to its promise and withdraw troops from Iraq — and Afghanistan. We need to make sure that it doesn’t just transfer troops from one part of the region to another. We really need to bring our troops home and focus on the crises we have here at home,” said Bieri.
The need to bring the troops home from Iraq, rather than simply redeploying them to Afghanistan, was a common theme running through all of the speeches. Speaker after speaker asked the crowd to get involved, to urge the Obama administration to act to bring the troops home.
Next Left Notes editor Tom Good, whose three older brothers fought in Vietnam, said: “At this point in my life, I have a 14-year-old son. I do not want my son fighting in Vietnam, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, anywhere else. I want him here in New York City — fighting for human rights.”
Debra Anderson of Military Families Speak Out
and Movement for a Democratic Society
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Debra Anderson argued against “shifting soldiers” from one combat theatre to another — most of the soldiers now serving in Iraq or Afghanistan have done three or four tours she told the crowd. The cost of these redeployments is very real to those who have served.
“Some of my husband’s friends’ boots are down on that beach,” Anderson said.
Throughout the day, people walking along the boardwalk stopped to read items displayed on a literature table and some walked down to the beach to read the names of the dead.
At dusk, candles flickered inside red votives, one at the base of each memorial cross. In the distance the lights on the Verazzano Bridge twinkled. The Verrazano, spanning the Narrows at the entrance to New York harbor and connecting Staten Island with Brooklyn, was completed in 1964 — just as the Vietnam War began to escalate.
On Saturday evening, as organizers wrapped themselves in blankets to combat the cold wind, local media picked up the story and ran news items encouraging people to visit the memorial. The outcome was a steady stream of visitors on Sunday. The organizers were tired but gratified to see the foot traffic– having spent the night on the boardwalk, safeguarding their exhibit.
Night falls on Arlington NYS
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
“In the simplest terms, this memorial represents American deaths in two wars that should have never been. Each cross, each star and crescent, each pair of boots reminds us not only of what we’ve lost but what we might lose still in wars that are ongoing. These soldiers should be with us now. They should be sitting with their families on the beach, walking their dogs along the boardwalk, not being memorialized in sand,” said organizer Devra Morice of Movement for a Democratic Society.
for more go to: http://www.nextleftnotes.com/NLN/photo-gallery/2009_03_14_arlington/