Laura Johnson
Staff Writer
They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.
–Laurence Binyon
With summer quickly approaching, going to the beach to experience the sun and warmth of the season is essential when being a Californian. However, beachgoers looking for a normal expedition to this sandy place will not find it when going to Santa Monica Beach on a Sunday.
Every Sunday, visitors will see approximately 1,000 painted white wood crosses scattered across the landscape. With wood planks leading to the beach through this faux cemetery, it’s hard to pass by this unusual sight and not want to know more.
The site is called Arlington West Santa Monica Beach Memorial, named after the original Arlington cemetery in Washington D.C. The crosses commemorate the lives of the men and women who lost their lived fighting in the Iraq War.
On a normal day, especially when thinking about going to the beach, one is not usually worried about such deep issues as the Iraq War. Rather, it is much easier to ignore the fact that America is even at war at all. This mobile monument is set up every Sunday so that no one will forget.
Taking about three hours to assemble, the people who run the memorial, the Veterans for Peace, arrive at the beach early in the morning to begin before the crowds come. Once set-up, this attraction always brings people through with puzzled looks on their faces questioning what it is, and what it is doing there.
In front of the cross assembly, boxes sit in a line draped with American flag representing the men and woman who died in the war the previous week. Last weeks count was 19.
Besides crosses and caskets being put out, there are also large bulletin boards scrawled with rows and rows of soldiers who have already died in combat. There is yet another board depicting grotesque images of wounds that soldiers who were in the war have received. These photos are trying to get people to realize the seriousness of war and its effect on our military.
This is an interactive set-up where a person can choose a soldier’s name off of the list, write it down with the provided paper and a brightly colored marker, choose a freshly-cut flower and then go and place them on the cross of their choosing.
Steve Overall, a member who has been with the monument group almost since it’s establishment in Feb. 2004, said this is done this way so that the name of the soldier is no longer just a name, but rather a tangible person with a face.
Overall also said of building, a monument now for the deceased soldiers. “We’re not going to wait twenty years to build a monument for them and we certainly aren’t going to hide them,” he said.
Beginning in 1985, the organization Veterans for Peace, according to their Statement of Purpose, pledge is: to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace. With thousands of member’s nation wide, these veterans want to have their voices heard.
Michael Lemley, a Vietnam War Veteran, loves what he does. “Some groups can get too radical, but this one is powerful,” Lemley said of the memorial. Helping set up and inform the public about what is going on overseas, Lemley only wishes he had joined sooner as he joined the organization at the beginning of the year.
Rollerbladers whiz through and bums peacefully nap nearby, yet with the frothy white waves crashing in on the beach and brightly colored notes left on crosses in thought and prayer, this is a place where one can go to grieve, remember and even rejoice in the resilience the human spirit. Often on this patch of sand, people can be found crying or staring somberly into the distance.
The sign posted near the entrance of the memorial states, “This memorial is dedicate to the men and woman of our military who have made the greatest sacrifice, and also those who live with their wounds.” And that’s what it’s all about.
06-08-2006