Seeing is believing: the awful toll of war
Boots signify lives lost at war
BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer
The financial cost of war is often spelled out for the public, tallied in the billions of dollars spent on weapons and technology, but how is the human cost of war illustrated?


PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Seventy-eight pairs of military boots arranged in rows on the grounds of the Shrewsbury Friends Meeting House on June 6 was organized by Eyes Wide Open, a peacekeeping campaign of the American Friends Service held to commemorate U.S. armed forces and civilians killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Eyes Wide Open," an exhibit hosted by the American Friends Service Committee, does just that — it displays the human cost of the war in Iraq with an empty pair of boots for each American military service member's life lost in combat.

The American Friends Service Committee is an organization formed by the Quakers in 1917 "to provide conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian war victims."

"We always invite representatives from the Quaker congregation to come and speak about peacemaking efforts, and since there is a Unitarianwide initiative to look at peacemaking efforts, we decided to jointly hold an event highlighting the Quakers' approach to peacemaking," explained Jim McCorkel, co-chair of the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County in Lincroft.


Memorabilia from loved ones is placed at one of the pairs of boots.

The June 6 and 7 displays of "Eyes Wide Open" at the Shrewsbury Friends Meeting House and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation seemed like a natural fit, McCorkel said.

"I think we are all aware of the fact that our country is involved in international military actions, both in peacekeeping and not," McCorkel said. "Now seemed as good a time as any to reflect on what it means to lose people from New Jersey and to see that loss in a way in which we can relate."

According to the congregation's website, the display for "Eyes Wide Open," which travels nationally, illustrates each state's casualties and also acknowledges Iraqi civilians lost in conflict.

"Alongside the boots stands a wall of remembrance with the names of the more than 11,000 Iraqi civilians who have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion," the "Eyes Wide Open" website says of the larger scale displays.


ERIC SUCAR staff The 78 pairs of empty military boots arranged in rows on the grounds of the Shrewsbury Friends Meeting House are a stark symbol of lives lost in the Iraqi war.

Erin Polley, program associate for "Eyes Wide Open," based in Chicago, explained how the program began.

"The display began in January 2004 with 500 pairs of boots signifying the American casualties to date from the war in Iraq," Polley said. "They were displayed in Chicago and as the number of casualties rose, we kept adding boots."



The pairs of boots used to represent lost service members are often donated or purchased at Army/Navy supply stores, Polley said.

"Of all the boots used for the displays, only about 20 pairs were donated by families of service members who were killed in action," Polley said. "For several years the display toured the country, setting up at places like the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and Central Park in New York City. In May 2007, 3,500 pairs of boots were displayed in Chicago's Grant Park, and it took two semi-trucks to transport the exhibit, making the display very costly, so it was decided individual states would hold their own displays."

Except for two states - Louisiana and Wyoming — all 50 states and the territory of Puerto Rico have "Eyes Wide Open" displays, Polley said.

"Coordinators from each state picked up their state's boots in 2007 and each state's display is either coordinated by a Friends meeting house or another community organization that focuses on peacekeeping," Polley said.

For the Lincroft-based Unitarian Universalist Congregation, the display seems to be a welcome installation.

"There is a lot of excitement and interest in our congregation about the exhibition," McCorkel said. "We have varying opinions about the war in Iraq and there is no particular agenda with a display of this nature, so the beauty of this is that there is no stance."

McCorkel said the message is made simple.

"By representing each service member who was lost in Iraq, it simplifies the idea for reflection," he said. "Reflection is important with something like this since it can be so emotional."

Polley said that the "Eyes Wide Open" organizers describe the display as an "open memorial."

"We really view this as an open memorial and it gives people a space to reflect on what the human cost of war is," she said. "Over the years we have added different components, such as displaying the economic cost and hidden casualties, such as veteran casualties, to have deeper conversations about these issues."

Polley said that while the exhibit began by representing casualties of the war in Iraq, many state displays have included casualties from the Afghanistan war.

"Many states now include boots that represent casualties in Afghanistan and oftentimes, we talk about those two wars in the same conversation," Polley explained.

In conjunction with the Friends Meeting in Shrewsbury, the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation hosted the display on Sunday, June 7. The Quakers held the exhibit in the front yard of the Meetinghouse, near the community garden, June 6.

As for how the numbers of Americans lost in both Iraq and Afghanistan are tracked, Polley said they rely on icasualties.org, a website that reports the number of American casualties based on information in U.S. Department of Defense press releases.

According to the website, as of June 3, 4,306 Americans have been killed in the war in Iraq, 78 of them were from New Jersey. The website reports that 695 Americans have been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

For more information on the "Eyes Wide Open" display, visit www.afsc.org/eyes.