Today was just another Sunday for me. I'd slept in, the kids were restless, and my biggest problem turned out to be where to take the kids so my wife could vaccuum. Seriously.
I figured we'd go down to the Santa Monica Pier. You can't miss with that, as far as keeping the kids happy, if you don't mind parting with some cash.
I parked in the big lot just to the right of the pier. When I noticed all the little crosses stuck in the sand. Countless little white crosses. We went over there right away to check it out, and I wanted to share it with people here. It's probably been blogged here before, but if so, it deserves it again. The men and women who put it there deserve it.
It was "Arlington West, Irarq War Memorial", put on by the Veterans for Peace, Los Angeles.
Photos and more after the break
Two thousand and forty six little white crosses, in the sand beside the amusements of the Santa Monica Pier.
30 soldiers were killed in Iraq just this week. Thirty new white little crosses in the sand. And thirty fresh flag-draped caskets:
A list of each soldier's name and the details of how he or she was killed:
There was a booth with people handing out brochures and cards and other information. T-shirts were available. I found out that this is done very Sunday by
Los Angeles Veterans for Peace.
I wanted to post a couple of photos here and commend these guys for doing what theyr'e doing. Their job, sadly, gets bigger every weekend. They need volunteers, because every Sunday morning they have to set all this up, and every Sunday afternoon take it all down.
They also need 100 pallbearers for a Veterans Day Parade coming up on November 12. The coffin procession begins at noon.
It's a very sad memorial, and the first I had seen of it. (I tend to avoid the pier on Sundays because I live nearby and, well, it gets pretty crowded).
I saw people wiping their eyes, some in tears, some just looking sad and staring. The section that shows the wounded soldiers seemed to touch people the most, at least the people who were there the same time as I.
Another sad fact: The guys manning the booth told me that they'd gotten "a lot" of press attention, but mainly from the foreign press. Figures.
Anyway if you can help these guys out, or just drop them a line to give them support, I think they'd appreciate it.
