Memorial allows connection with thousands killed in Iraq War

Local chapter of Veterans for Peace honors U.S. servicemen, -women

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published September 08, 2008

OLYMPIA – More than 4,100 white headstones in neat rows lined the grass at Heritage Park, one for each of the servicemen and -women killed in the Iraq War.

"I, myself, don't really view it as political," said Robert Smith, a member of the Veterans for Peace, Rachel Corrie Chapter 109, which has brought the traveling display to Olympia for the past few years. "It's honoring our comrades who have died."The Olympia-based chapter of the veterans group planned to keep vigil over the Arlington Northwest Memorial on Sunday night and honor the killed troops with a wreath-laying ceremony today.

The Arlington Northwest Memorial, named after the military cemetery in Virginia, was started by the Seattle chapter of Veterans for Peace, and travels to different locations in the state. Last week it was in Tacoma, and it is headed for Chehalis after Olympia. There are similar memorial projects in California and Minnesota. In 2005, there were about 1,900 markers. On Sunday, there were 4,155.

Volunteers gather the names of the U.S. war dead, and there is one marker for each person from the United States, though not every marker is personalized.

The memorial is free of overt political commentary, and demonstrations, banners and placards are discouraged at the memorial. But what is encouraged is visitors leaving their own tributes and helping to fill in some of the blank headstones with some of the names.

"You name it, every emotion, we've seen it out here," Smith said.

Some of the headstones have personal messages, such as one letter to a killed soldier from his wife giving him an update on their son. One section of the display is for soldiers from Washington, and some of those markers have photos and other mementos.

"Some people don't have a chance to go to Arlington, or their loved one lived in a different state," said Dennis Mills, founder of Veterans for Peace, Rachel Corrie Chapter 109. "For many, this is their first time to grieve, for closure."

Troy and Carianne Kehm-Goins of Puyallup came to the Olympia memorial Sunday, several weeks after a trip to the actual Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

"We thought it would be a good connection," Troy Kehm-Goins said, as Carianne Kehm-Goins helped place some names on blank markers. "It was about the whole idea of sacrifice."

Vianca Aarts of Olympia lingered at the marker of Sgt. Justin D. Norton of Rainier, the grandson of a woman with whom she worked. Norton died in 2006 at age 21.

She and her family stopped after passing by and seeing the thousands of white markers on the lawn.

"It's so striking," she said. "For me, it's such an emotional thing to come out here and see this.... You see it on the news sometimes, but you can forget that the war is a reality for some people every day."

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.