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Shoes Show
War Losses
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Tributes to fallen soldiers have taken different shapes over time, but there’s a traveling exhibit that is currently drawing lots of attention. Eyes Wide Open is an effort to make people aware of military, and civilian, losses during wartime. Barry Simmons walks us through this unique exhibit. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Ft. Worth, Texas)
Three hundred and eighty pairs of boots…all representing Texas soldiers
who died in the war in Iraq.
Kara Speltz: “There’s something about this that makes it no longer
abstract for people.”
Outside the doors of the United Methodist General Conference in Fort
Worth, the boots are surrounded by shoes that represent the hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives because of the
conflict.
Kara Speltz: “For me, the most intense emotions came from the children.
It’s hard for me to talk about.”
The exhibit, called Eyes Wide Open, is by the American Friends Service
Committee. Organized in 2004, this simple, stark display once
represented all 50 states. Now, with the loss of 4,000 troops, it is
broken down state-by-state.
Celeste Zappala is here to speak to a United Methodist gathering, but
she was drawn to the site for very personal reasons.
Celeste Zappala: “My son was Sgt. Sherwood Baker. He was killed in
Baghdad on April 26, 2004. He was guarding the people who were looking
for the weapons of mass destruction.”
Celeste is an avid war protestor, but today she’s seeing this exhibit
through the eyes of a mother.
Celeste Zappala: “To me, the most terrible are the shoes of the
children. The little shoes there, you think about all the little
children who have been killed in Iraq that we never hear about. We don’t
know their names, but I know that their mothers know their names. Just
like mothers know the names of all these loved ones here and the loss is
so great.”
Eyes Wide Open continues to travel to through the U.S. with the hope of
creating dialogue and remembrance.
TAG:
To learn more about the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, call 312-427-2533.
Also see:
Display of boots represents ‘human cost of war’