The memorial mile- 4000+ tombstones

[undeterred]

The Veterans for Peace chapter in Madison WI set up a memorial mile along Lake Monona in honor of the war dead lost in Iraq and Afghanistan on Veterans Day last fall. I heard that they were doing it again this weekend, so I drove by to see it around noon, and found that it was still being put up- so I joined in until it was finished a few hours later. In November the ground was soft and it only took 3 hours, but today the ground was dry and hard, so the work did not go so fast.

The veterans I met had served in several different wars; most of the ones I met today served in the Vietnam war. The tombstones are 5 across, more than 800 rows... when you are walking or driving by, it feels like they go on forever. They will stay up until next Saturday.

Madison is strongly against the war, so 98% of the people who passed by gave us the thumbs up. There were a couple who said it dishonored the troops- I guess thats the standard line for the unenlightened.

It was a sobering exercise. This only acknowledges the death of our own troops. Imagine if we put up a tombstone for every Iraqi killed as a result of the invasion. It would go for miles and miles.

Thank you, veterans, for your service. And thank you for working for peace.

http://www.madison.com/communities/madveteransforpeace/