Traveling boots exhibit shows human cost of war

Passersby more sympathetic than before

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — A display of 122 pairs of boots was set up in front of the government center last week to underscore the human cost of the war in Iraq.

Jonathan Mernit, an antiwar activist, said some people were “a little upset” at seeing the display of empty boots on the ground, but public displays regarding the war in Iraq are drawing less controversy than they did in the past. Mernit, who can often be found at a monthly anti-war demonstration in Liberty, said many more people now nod in agreement as they pass such displays compared with two years ago.

The one-day exhibit was part of a traveling exhibition mounted by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) called “Eyes Wide OpenžThe Human Cost of War.” Nicole Cousino, an AFSC volunteer, said the 122 pairs of boots represents the 122 New Yorkers who had died in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003.

Cousino said the effort was meant to remind the public of the price society pays for war, and to provide a place where people can openly discuss their feelings about the war, whether they support it or not. “There are really very few places where people can just talk about it,” she said.

Not all the people who stopped by were in favor of the display. One woman said she had a husband and two sons in Iraq, and this sort of thing only made their jobs harder, because it lets the enemy know that this country is divided over Iraq.

Another woman said nothing, but silently read the names of the local soldiers who had been killed. Their names were tied to pairs of boots in the front row. There were two from Highland, two from Middletown and one from White Lake.

The exhibit also included civilian shoes to represent the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have perished in the conflict.

AFSC, which was founded by Quakers in 1917 to provide conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian war victims, began touring with the exhibit in January 2004, with just 504 pairs of boots representing the deaths of all U.S. military personnel. In 2005, the New York office of AFSC set up statewide exhibits for New York and New Jersey.

AFSC works with churches, clubs and other groups interested in taking the exhibit to a village or town in the state. In Sullivan County, AFSC connected up with Sullivan Peace and Justice (SPJ). Mernit said that the people who work in the government center were “supportive” of their effort to stage the event in front of the building. The biggest hurdle, he said, was getting an insurance certificate for the event, which AFSC helped them obtain.

Since the invasion of Iraq, 2,571 U.S. soldiers have died, 122 of them were from New York and 135 were from Pennsylvania.