One does not serve for a Political Party, nor Political Ideology, nor just for parents, friends, relatives, they serve Country, and while Country wants No Sacrifice, those who serve Deserve The Country's Recognition Of Their Service and Especially Their Deaths, Maimings and Pyschological Traumas!!!
Iraq Memorial Stirs Bad Blood in Town
By MICHELLE LOCKE, AP
LAFAYETTE, Calif. (Nov. 29) - The hundreds of white wooden crosses planted on a quiet suburban hillside honor the memory of troops killed in Iraq - or, depending on your leanings, exploit personal grief for politics.
Hundreds of crosses representing U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq, along with a banner keeping count, line a hillside in Lafayette, Calif.
Jeff Heaton, one of the memorial's creators, said the effort is a tribute meant as "a touching way to make people aware of the true costs of the war."
Some people have objected to the display, saying it exploits personal grief for a political statement and calling it "painful" and a "travesty."
The memorial sits on private property, but the city council plans to vote in about a month on whether the banner violates city law.
A memorial Heaton tried to erect here in 2003 was vandalized. This one has fared better, although a driver did get out of her car and take down the sign. Source: AP
The memorial and sign sit opposite a commuter train station and are visible from a heavily traveled highway to San Francisco.
Jeff Heaton, who along with peace group members started putting up the crosses in early November in relatively conservative Lafayette, sees the effort as a simple tribute.
"It seemed like it would be a touching way to make people aware of the true costs of the war," he said.
And that it is, a Sad Reminder to All!
"I do not consider this a memorial," Lisa Disbrow, a resident of nearby Moraga who has a son preparing to serve in Iraq, said at a public hearing Monday night. Although many spoke in favor of the exhibit, others called it "painful" and a "travesty."
Painful it is to really view what these Wars Cost, the loss of many that just keeps being added to, as the Arrogant Civilian Leadership take little notice and orry only about their power and the wealth that comes as a result of Wars of Choice or any War!
A 'Travesty', You Damn Right It Is, and even more so for the Innocents of the Countries the Arrogant send Militaries to Invade!
The hearing, which drew a crowd of more than 200, was technically not about the memorial itself, but about an accompanying sign: "In Memory of 2867 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq."
The sign is too big, to Damn Bad, it's Reality!
The council is asking city attorneys for advice on whether the sign ordinance conflicts with freedom of expression and expects to vote in about a month on whether to demand the sign be downsized or removed, said Mayor Ivor Samson.
The game of playing politics on the KIA's of this Country, War Is Not A Game!
"Clearly, if this had happened in San Francisco or Berkeley or Oakland this would be a dog-bites-man story," said Samson, a three-term mayor retiring in December. "When it happens in a quiet suburban community that is generally more conservative, then it's more like man bites dog."
We are finding out More and More about what being a 'Conservative' today Means! And it isn't about Country, the United States, but about a sick form of what has risen before, Fascism, no other word for it, and a controll of the freedoms we once had!
Besides crosses, the memorial contains other religious symbols, and organizers plan for it to grow.
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