Eyes Wide Open

Friday Amanda and I were in Philadelphia to visit (and volunteer at) Eyes Wide Open, the AFSC sponsored memorial display of military boots-- one pair for each of the 1746 fallen Americans in Iraq.

The boots are arranged alphabetically by state in neat rows with room to walk around. Each pair has a name tag attached, and a few are even the actual boots of the fallen soldier. Most have flowers, photos, letters, or some other momento left by a loved one. There are usually one or two mourners among the visitors at any given time, and from a shaded dias beside the display, the names of the fallen, as well as many Iraqi civialian victims are read slowly. Two of the readers during our time there were mothers of fallen soldiers.
The exhibit evokes a powerful emotional response from most visitors. It is a silent statement about the absurdity of war, but far transcending a simple anti-war message, this experience is that of a memorial service for the victims of war. The mode is silence, so there isn't much for volunteers to do but try to keep from getting too teary eyed to respond to one or two questions you might be asked every hour or two.

After the victims of this war stop falling, the exhibit should find a permanent place near Arlington or the Vietnam Memorial.

In case you missed it, the exhibit will be in Lancaster in September and Newark and New York in October.

See photos here. . . and Here. Thanks, Green from Horsham!