Arlington West in Santa Barbara to close down. Photos

[partylessinOhio]

Rising death toll in Iraq to close down 'war memorial'

Los Angeles, Nov 11: An unofficial war memorial that has placed a cross in the sand for each US fatality in Iraq is to discontinue the practice because it cannot keep up with the rising rate of casualties, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Each Sunday since November 2003, volunteers have gathered on the Santa Barbara beach to plant the 50-centimetre-high wooden crosses in a precise grid in the sand. The tribute is called Arlington West in reference to the main military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington. At the start the project only had 230 crosses. But now there are more than 2,800, with 98 fatalities in October alone, and at least 20 already dead so far this month.


Volunteers erect crosses honoring those who have fallen in Iraq, at the Arlington West Memorial, which is organized by Veterans for Peace, in Santa Monica, Calif., on Veteran's Day, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006.

That has meant a huge amount of work to erect the memorial every week and the overworked volunteers are considering capping the number of crosses at 3,000.

"It's strictly a matter of logistics, there's just a limit to how much room we can take up and how many crosses we can handle," said Dan Seidenberg, president of the local chapter of a group called Veterans for Peace. "I mean, how long will this war drag on?"

The report Friday said that city officials are concerned that as the war drags on the beach memorial will crowd sunbathers and spill over into areas reserved for beach volleyball.

http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?action=fullnews&id=49201


Chris Erickson, left, comforts Deirdre O'Neill as they both were moved by the erected crosses honoring those who have died in Iraq, at the Arlington West Memorial, which is organized by Veterans for Peace, in Santa Monica, Calif., on Veteran's Day, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006. Erickson and O'Neill are visiting from Washington State.

Other photos of Arlington West Memorial:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?ei=UTF-8&p=Arlington+West+Memorial&c=&fr=&c=news_photos

[KingFlorez]

1. I used to live in Santa Barbara

It's too bad this is closing down, looks like it was a good memorial for the troops.

[pinto]

2. The tribute, every Sunday for 3 years, and this quote "I mean, how long will this war drag on?"

Sadly say so much.

[rodeodance]

3. Rec. this is important.

[fooj]

4. Heartbreaking...

A sad commentary...

The report Friday said that city officials are concerned that as the war drags on the beach memorial will crowd sunbathers and spill over into areas reserved for beach volleyball.

Perhaps it SHOULD spill over...
When something like this is in your face, how can anyone ignore the reality? Jane and Joe "sunbather and beach volleyballer" NEED to see this memorial, IMO. What could be more important than this tribute to our fallen?

[windbreeze]

5. Perhaps if some sunbathers and

volleyball players had to serve...lost their lives...maybe then, it would become important enough..
The picture brought tears to my eyes...all those young lives...lost...
windbreeze

[fooj]

7. Yes.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[earth mom]

6. So sad...

:cry:

[Up2Late]

8. Damn, it's staring to look like the real thing above Omaha Beach, FR.

Here's a few shots of the WW2 Cemetery above Omaha Beach in France:

Click Thumbnail

Click Thumbnail

NOTE: I know the guy who owns the Copyrights to these, so please don't repost them anywhere else.

[madfloridian]

9. Here's the Arlington Miami pic and video...makes you cry.

From the DFA blog and the Miami Herald..

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/466

And the video in English.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=737

[Shakespeare]

10. I believe there's an error in the story--Arlington West is in Santa Monica.

And it's very moving.