"Eyes Wide Open" in Anchorage

[Blue_In_AK]

A pair of boots for each of the 110 Alaskan and Alaska-based soldiers killed in Iraq


Husband and father Chester Troxel of Anchorage, dead at 45


I met this boy's mother - 19, so young to die


Some of the lives we seek to save


Lost in thought


Empty shoes


Honoring the names

[maddezmom]

1. thanks for posting

:( We all need to see this, in large groups and small groups.

[Swamp Rat]

2. k&r

[bonito]

3. What they taken away

;(

[lovuian]

4. So sad Love them all

this country is so sad right now

[midnight]

5. Thank you Alaska for putting this memorial together.

Bring them home-Now......

[fizzgig]

6. thank you for sharing

:cry:

[CC]

7. Heartbreaking.

People really need to see something like this everywhere. Maybe it would chip at that last 29 percent.

[me b zola]

8. I think that the empty boots memorial is so much more powerful than crosses

Love & peace to the grieving families. Prayers to those who may be sent. Wisdom to those who are considering joining.

[Tarheel_Dem]

9. thanks for posting Blue.......

this breaks my heart. k&r.

[ConsAreLiars]

10. Very compelling, Your photos captured the power of the message the empty boots carry.

Each pair different, all broken or crumpled to various degrees, all empty. The civilian shoes and images of Iraqi victims make the tragedy of this monstrous crime all the more apparent. Thanks to those who put this display together.

Truth.

[unhappycamper]

11. EWO visited Boston 11.2005

We set up for three days on Boston Common.








Took the exhibit down on Saturday afternoon and then set it up for two days in Copley Square.

[Elspeth]

12. How many more have to die ?

:(

[Th1onein]

13. K & R

It is hard to think of all of the wasted suffering, but someone needs to "bring it home" to Americans, and to the world. Thank God there are people out there doing this kind of thing.

[babylonsister]

14. Pictures speak a thousand words. Thank you, Blue. Recommend. nt

[Eurobabe]

15. So sobering, not only OUR soldiers but the Iraqi "collateral damage"

as Rummy used to call them.

These F'ing bastards!! IMPEACH!!

[Richard Steele]

16. K&R

[Maestro]

17. The first photo is very

poignant! Thanks for sharing.

[Blue_In_AK]

18. Positive newspaper coverage of the event

http://www.adn.com/news/military/iraq/story/9379678p-9292904c.html

The solemn display of a soldier's empty boots carries a stark message with chiseled directness: The soldier's life was given in war.

On Saturday afternoon at Anchorage Town Square Park, that soldier's boots, times 109, stood empty on the damp grass beneath heavy skies.

The 109 pairs of black boots, each one bearing a tag with a name, rank, hometown and home base, represented 109 U.S. servicemen and women who had Alaska hometowns or were stationed here when they were deployed to the conflict in Iraq. There they died.

<snip>

By coincidence, a group of soldiers just returned from Iraq -- B Company, 235th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division stationed at Schofield Barracks on Oahu, Hawaii -- were in town Saturday because their plane back to base was held up.

Perhaps 20 went through the park, taking in the exhibit. Brelsford welcomed them.

"This shows us that you guys care, because a lot of time we don't have morale there," Pfc. Dante Beisel, 21, said in an interview. "This shows that the people back home care."

Pfc. Marcus Brown wore his own memorial, a bracelet engraved with the names and hometowns of three of his comrades who died on his birthday this year about two hours north of Baghdad.

"I had lunch with them and they died that night," Brown said.

[helderheid]

19. Sobering and heartbreaking. Thank you.

[Mabus]

20. Oh man.

I'm at a loss for words.

[democrank]

21. Let there be peace.

Bless them, one and all.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Isn't this a great exhibit?

We have it here and it is just so stunning. Glad to see it is in Alaska!

[NV Whino]

23. kick

[roguevalley]

24. so sad. so very sad. I saw that in the newspaper, blue. amazingly

sad. its snowing today here.

[alfredo]

25. Kick

[JeffR]

26. Too late to rec, damn it

These are deeply moving.