Go Chicago ! COFFINS on the Federal Plaza.....(photos)

[diamond14]

first it was the dead as "combat boots" display in downtown Chicago, currently touring the Nation (was in DC on the Mall just before Memorial Day...bush* forced them out just before his 'glorious conquest' WAR memorial photo-op)....

and NOW, the COFFIN display...nice, well done...hope it travels around the Nation too....let's all help these exhibits move around to YOUR hometown...it takes a lot of work, especially on the local level to bring these exhibits to a park in YOUR town....STAND UP...stop bush*'s carnage and KILLING....




Pedestrians walk among some of the over 100 coffin-shaped boxes placed in Federal Plaza during a protest over the war in Iraq (news - web sites) Thursday, May 27, 2004, in Chicago. Organizers of the protest say each of the coffins draped in black represent 100 Iraqis killed since the beginning of the war. The eight coffins draped in the American flag represent the roughly 800 U.S. soldiers killed during since the start of the conflict. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

[Lorien]

1. 100 Iraqis?

Last Pentagon number I read was over 30,000 Iraqis killed.

[slinkerwink]

2. reread the post more carefully

"Organizers of the protest say each of the coffins draped in black represent 100 Iraqis killed since the beginning of the war."

[Lorien]

20. Still down by 200 coffins

but making as many as they did was a real accomplishment!

[DEMVET-USMC]

3. This is good,it very much reminds me of the early 1970s and Nixon`s fall

It was happening during the 1960s also but I was in the Marines and missed out on those years of activism. It`s great to see the People standing up against the powers that be. ..Oscar

[diamond14]

4. thank you for your service, DEMVET-USMC....my cousin was KILLED

in Vietnam....HM3 Navy Medic...Silver Star, Purple Heart, 19 years old DEAD...couldn't even vote....Charlie was out there saving Marines at the time he was shot DEAD....

IMO, this whole Iraq mess is exactly like Vietnam....same mistakes...

the BIG difference is in fatalities in Iraq...many more troops are saved by the new Kevlar vests and the new medipacs (gel that swells up and stops the bleeding when your leg is blown off, also keeps the wound from getting infected, can be applied in seconds and saves lives)....so many more soldiers come home....unfortunately, the wounds are horrific, would have KILLED anyone in Vietnam, now over 4000 troops are left without legs, arms, eyes, hearing, eyesight...they're still alive, but what of the 'QUALITY' of life...and like the Vietnam Vets, a lifetime of medical care is required....

the nixonian madness going on in the foreground, with Vietnam in the background....yes, bush* may well go down just like nixon did...mad...insane...heavily drinking, all the rats jumping off the sinking ship....LOTS of investigations, tons of scandals, war-profiteering everywhere....

[PaDUer]

8. * needs to go down

NOW..later = more dead.

[DEMVET-USMC]

16. Sorry to hear about your cousin. Those Navy Corpsmen among Bravest

men I served with. I got shot in the stomach and the bullet came out my back. These bullets exit your body with a much larger hole than when they go in. I am but one of many who owe our lives to men like your cousin. Take Care Always, ...Oscar

[diamond14]

17. Charlie went out on the battlefield and saved a man's life, for that,

he got a silver star...then he went out AGAIN to try and save another man and was KILLED...it was May 3, 1966..Quang Tin Province in South Vietnam....19 years old, forever.....Panel 7E on the WALL...

Charlie was my friend and my cousin...we grew up together and played together as children...his father died from grief shortly after his only son was KILLED....I have only twice been able to go to THE WALL, even though I live inside the DC Beltway....

there is a bit of comfort in knowing that perhaps some guy, just like you, is still alive today because of Charlie...as John Kerry so poignantly put it: Everday is extra, after Vietnam....

and everyday, on my busy agenda, I try to do at least ONE little thing to STOP BUSH*'s insane GREAT STUPID WAR....so much suffering...so much waste of people and money...I continue to be amazed that people are not OUT IN THE STREETS enraged...

[DEMVET-USMC]

18. Charlie,your friend and cousin was a brave and good man

God bless and keep him. You are making me cry. All us Marines owe a Great debt of gratitude to men such as Charlie, many of us our very lives. I am as angry as hell and am going to whatever I can to rid our Nation of this cowardly, greedy, arrogant regime. God bless Charlie and God bless you ...Oscar

[symbolman]

5. Way to go!

I don't know how many people saw when I did this in Times Square in New York City last November --

I created a coffin out of cardboard and black constuction paper, covered it in an ameican flag and a flower and laid it at the doorstep of the Recruitment center right smack dab in the middle of a Times Square "island" there..

they didn't like that at all.. right in front of their 40 foot screen showing kids basically "skateboarding into Iraq"..

ended up with them calling the cops and kicking us out of there but I got the footage I wanted.. and if you want to see it (and if it will play for you - it's a quicktime version) -- here is the link:

I called it -- "Warnography"

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/warnography.html

I've been telling people to do this since then on our radio show and place them in public places -- whoever did this, RIGHT ON!

[nostamj]

6. i saw that coffin!

though, not 'in action'...

powerful street threater... reminds me of the AIDS quilt too.

[RetroLounge]

7. Wow! Powerful stuff.

EOM

[PaDUer]

9. Your video is excellent...

yes, more people need to do this NOW.

[LynzM]

10. Wow.

I'm going to pass that one on, for sure...

[diamond14]

12. M27 appears to have done the memorial protest....(link)

here's a link to more photos on Chicago IndyMedia....the first photos that I posted were found on reuters news photos, but there wasn't a STORY attacked...there isn't any story on IndyMedia either....but it's a start....we should help to move this exhibit around America...to parks and plazas everywhere....have no clue who M27 is....anyone here know?


http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/41870/index.php

[DEMVET-USMC]

19. Good work symbolman,We are going to bring these Bastards DOWN ! !

They are coming down, I feel it in my bones. The momomentum is here now, and building, it is going to happen ! ...Oscar

[2Design]

11. thanks it is good to see activists

[diamond14]

13. finally ! Found the STORY behind the photos.....(link)

http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/41804/index.php

IRAQ WAR MEMORIAL DAY Contact: John Farrell

Voices in the Wilderness, 773-784-8065 (o)

At the event: 630-768-9305 (c)

*CHICAGO -- On* *Thursday, May 27th, from 4 to 6 pm at the Federal Plaza* (Dearborn and Adams), there will be a solemn gathering to remember those who have been killed in Iraq over the past year. The memorial will feature* *rows of coffins to represent the proportion of the deaths of US soldiers and Iraqis, along with a reading of names of some of those people killed. Visitors to the memorial will have the opportunity to bring flowers, pictures and other memorial items to place on or near the coffins.

This memorial comes at the heels of two of the deadliest months for US soldiers and Iraqis. Over 138 US soldiers died in April alone (more than the first two months of the invasion), with more than 900 reported as wounded in action (Karl Vick, Washington Post, 4/27/04). Meanwhile, the estimates of Iraqi casualties in April are over 1300, with about 900 Iraqis killed in Falluja from April 1-20 (Christian Science Monitor, 4/20/04). The sharp increase in casualties over the past two months and the promise of more to come, with the fallout from the Abu Ghraib torture scandal yet to be determined, makes it imperative to interrupt 'business as usual' this Memorial Day weekend. We must remember the dead and reflect on the true impact of war and occupation, both here and abroad.

For more than a year, the realities of those casualties have been hidden from most of us. Until recently, we have not seen the over 800 flag-draped caskets returning home and we have not heard the names or numbers of Iraqi casualties from this war, which most likely exceed 10,000 (iraqbodycount.net).

In the spirit of remembering the dead and hoping for a better future, "Iraq War Memorial Day" will be observed on Thursday in the Federal Plaza, from 4-6 pm, to provide a space for people to reflect, remember and grieve.

Sponsors and supporters of this event include: Circle of Life Affinity Group, 8th Day Center for Justice, West Suburban Faith-based Peace Coalition, Voices in the Wilderness, American Friends Service Committee, Pax Christi Illinois, Fellowship of Reconciliation - Chicago Chapter, United for Peace - Faithful Citizenship, Illinois SOA Watch, Chicago Religious Leadership Network, Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, and others.

[fortyfeetunder]

14. Every city should have one....

Whatever it takes to get the citizens of this country to be fed up with this sham of a war...

[diamond14]

15. it'd be REAL SIMPLE to make....use cardboard boxes and cover

with BLACK fabric....there could be two or three cardboard boxes for each casket...it's the covering with BLACK fabric that makes it look like ONE big box....put some rocks inside so the coffins don't blow away in the wind....that's it...sooooo simple...

yes, you are right...every city should have such a display....maybe if a few young draft-age people STAND UP and get busy...this could happen soon....sadly, it appears that most of the people in the photos are still us older people...the potential draftees are just sooooo unwilling to try to stop the carnage....