Stearns Pier is, perhaps, the most popular destination in beautiful Santa Barbara, California. And Every Sunday since November 2, 2003, the dedicated members of Veterans for Peace (VFP) have set up Arlington West, a memorial to the U.S. troops who have died in Iraq, just west of the pier. I spent last weekend visiting Santa Barbara and stopped by Stearns Pier to pay my respects. I wore my CODEPINK Phoenix shirt (the longsleeved one -- it was really cold), and had several members of the local VFP approach me to talk about the peace movement here in Phoenix. They were extremely impressed by the way all the peace groups in Phoenix work together. One gentleman, Rod, supplied me with several DVDs intended for our Veterans for Peace and Counter-Recruitment group -- I will deliver these to the appropriate group once I preview them!Currently, there are 3000 crosses, each bearing a name. Along the sides of the
of the memorial, there were some interesting bits of information. The one that shook me the most was the following: "At 3000 crosses, the Arlington West Memorial is 141 feet wide and 310 feet long. A memorial for the Iraqi dead would be 141 feet wide and 12.8 miles long." This is truly a compelling, visceral memorial, much like the Eyes Wide Open exhibit we had here recently. Apparently, about 20% of the crosses have been visited by loved ones and there are quite a few pictures and other items placed with the crosses.It generally takes the volunteers a couple of hours in the morning to set up the memorial and then some time to take it down at about noon. This weekend, however, the memorial remained up all day and then candles were set up next to all the crosses. The
crosses weren't removed until Monday, in honor of Memorial Day. While I was there, one man was constantly caring for the memorial, very carefully raking the sand smooth where people had walked. Several months after VFP started the Arlington West in Santa Barbara, one was started in Santa Monica, too. This kind of visual memorial is one of the most effective ways to show the true cost of this terrible occupation -- human lives.
2 comments:
No one can look on a memorial like that and not be moved and saddened. And angry at the unnecessary loss of lives.
I sent this blog address to a friend of mine who lives in Santa Barbara. I knew she was involved with the peace movement there. It turns out that she is one of the people who sets up the memorial each week. She didn't happen to be there for this weekend, though.
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