Grave reminder of Iraq war casualties

About 1,200 mock graves filled Wilson Plaza at the bottom of Janss Steps on Tuesday, representing U.S. military casualties in the Iraq war.

The display included mock white headstones ““ mostly crosses, but also Jewish and Muslim religious symbols ““ as well as information about military casualties and injuries that have occurred during the war.

The exhibit, called “Arlington West,” is run by a group called Veterans for Peace and was designed as a place where people could come to mourn the soldiers who have died in the war, but it has also been called a form of antiwar protest, said Steve Brown, a UCLA alumnus and member of Veterans for Peace.

The group Students for a Democratic Society brought the exhibit to campus, and organized three days of events centered around educating the campus about the war.

A group of students and community members stood directly in front of Janss Steps for more than an hour Tuesday, reading a list of names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis who have died during the war.

“We’re trying to put pressure on senators and congressmen to strengthen the antiwar movement,” said Alexandra Herskovitz, one of the organizers of the display and a member of SDS.

But David Lazar, chairman of Bruin Republicans and a former Daily Bruin columnist, said he believes the display neglected important information.

“It would be nice if they could also show the number of deaths under Saddam Hussein’s genocidal regime. … Sometimes that information gets lost,” Lazar said.

Both Herskovitz and Brown said the display was meant to attract attention to the war and humanize the casualties.

Griselda Vargas, a second-year psychology student who spent time reading the information at the display, said she became interested after seeing the mock cemetery.

“(I am) extremely astonished,” she said. “I’ve heard about the deaths before, but to see so many crosses really makes me think about it.”

The display also included pictures of soldiers injured during the war ““ including men and women with severe injuries and amputated limbs ““ and personal information about how soldiers’ lives can be impacted by these injuries.

“You hear about the deaths, but not the injuries,” Vargas said. “I can see how difficult it can be coming back from war injured. It really makes you think.”

On Thursday, SDS plans on having another war-related exhibit called “Walk in Their Shoes,” also in Wilson Plaza. Herskovitz said the display will feature hundreds of pairs of shoes, each labeled with personal information about an Iraqi who has died in the war.

Herskovitz said the goal of the shoe exhibit is to humanize the deaths of Iraqis, and that when people see a name attached to a pair of shoes it can help them better understand the magnitude of the tragedy.

“It really hones into people that might not be attracted to the peace movement immediately,” she said.

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