[HCCN] Iraq War Memorial continues and grows

[Judy Robbins]

Dear Peninsula Peace & Justice and Friends:

This weekend about 20 people gathered in Blue Hill to create the  
Field of Flags War Memorial for the fifth year. In the lot on Main  
Street generously provided for this use by Rufus Wanning, 4300 white  
flags were placed, each representing a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.  
Additionally 687 flags are being set this year to remember U.S. lives  
lost in Afghanistan in the years since the U.S. invasion in October  
2001. The field also is a memorial to civilian lives lost in those  
countries in the Middle East currently enduring military intervention  
and/or bombing: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. According to a report  
by a coalition of human rights groups, civilian loss of life is  
expected to escalate (www.oxfam.org/policy/civilians-caught-in-the- 
conflict-afghanistan). The War Memorial Field intends to be a visual  
demonstration of the true cost of war. Everyone is invited to visit  
the field, walk through and experience it. Also, if you like, please  
bring something to plant. A diagonal stream of plants has been  
started in the field, and hopes to grow. Bring a plant, a pot of  
dirt, a jug of water and a spade. You will see where to set your  
memorial plant. Markers are available, so that you can dedicate your  
planting if you wish to someone you want to remember, or an event, or  
a city, etc. (White stakes and marker pens are next to the white  
bench at the rear of the field.)
It is hoped that people will gather here throughout the summer and  
fall, share stories and news, have some reflection. Please always  
feel invited (and if you have a bottle of water handy, the many  
plantings are always thirsty). Only by acknowledging and remembering  
what has been lost and destroyed can we hope to find a more human way  
to share this planet and encourage something new to grow.


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