Open Eyes, Aching Heart

My heart is still aching from my afternoon spent in Philadelphia volunteering with the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit on Independence Mall yesterday. I went up to Philly with two friends, in Joanne's wonderful new Prius - the Toyota hybrid I covet. We were there early, so we spent some time in the indoor portion of the exhibit on the second floor of the Independence Hall Visitors Center. This included the *film "Arlington West" as well as a film about the Exhibit itself. Also small quilts made by children from around the world as memorials to Iraqi children killed in this war.

Our work for the exhibit consisted of handing out information and schedules for its time in Phila, and directing people from the outdoor main exhibit of the empty boots [one pair for each military person killed thus far (as of yesterday 1,746)] to the indoor exhibits, trying to make sure people saw the whole thing. The exhibit has been traveling long and far enough that many boots now have their own personal memorials that travel with them: photographs, flowers (many dried stalks now, but still with them), teddy bears, cards, letters, ribbons, bits and pieces left with these empty reminders of lives forever gone in this criminal enterprise of an illegal, unnecessary war.

The boots are arranged by state, then by name within the state. People drifted silently through the rows, some sat for a long time by a particular pair. I helped several people find their state, then watched as they sank to their knees by the name of the soldier they were honoring. One young man knelt and read several names, then got up and burst into tears.

There is, as well, a Walk of Remembrance - in maze form - of pairs of civilian shoes, each one bearing the name of an Iraqi man or woman killed since the war began. There is not room for over 100,000 pairs of shoes, so this is a token memorial. Inside there are wall panels bearing the 100,000 names.

As I was offering exhibit information to people, the mother in a family with small children rejected it with this comment: "No thanks. We're FOR war." This comment has pierced my heart perhaps more fatally than the exhibit itself. When I was a young woman protesting the Viet Nam war, we saw the death and destruction daily in our living rooms. It was our "reality TV," and it was all too real, too devastating. We were entirely aware of what was happening, and eventually enough people grew sick enough of it to bring it to a halt. Today this war is hidden from us behind a screen of invisibility arranged by the government in partnership with the media. It is why we need exhibits like Eyes Wide Open and Arlington West. To graphically show Americans the human cost of this war. I believe that more exhibits like this will spring up if the war continues for any period of time. EWO continues to travel around the country; its schedule is on the website.

* "Arlington West" is a 56 minute film about the "temporary cemetary" of crosses, stars and crescents, in the sand in Santa Monica, CA, a project of Veterans for Peace. Another such temporary cemetary is also being created in Santa Barbara.

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