Throughout the Memorial Day weekend, there were countless ceremonies all over the country honoring the veterans from wars past. The World War II Memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. There are tributes set up to remember the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of France this weekend.
However, there are members of the U.S. Armed Forces that are losing their lives daily as the war in Iraq wages on. Sure, the horrific regime of Saddam Hussein has fallen, but U.S. troops remain in place in Iraq, with more than 750 soldiers losing their lives since the outset of the war in April, 2003.
But there is no national monument set aside to remember those who have died while fighting in Iraq.
A group of concerned citizens called the Central Jersey Coalition for Peace started to build the Iraqi War Memorial Wall, a 6-foot-high, eight-paneled structure tacked to a fence that features the names and ages of almost 800 United States soldiers who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the conflict.
The wall also features the names of Iraqi civilians who have been killed.
Last Sunday night, the Iraqi War Memorial Wall was displayed in Weehawken’s Hamilton Plaza, where more than 250 people stopped to take notice.
Jim Dette, who is the founder and organizer of a group called Weehawken Citizens for Peace, was able to convince the organizers of the Iraqi War Memorial Wall to make an appearance in Weehawken.
“I found about the wall from the New Jersey Peace Action dinner, and I was very enthusiastic about having it come to Weehawken for Memorial Day,” Dette said. “We were delighted that they chose to come to Weehawken. We sent out invitations to the Veterans of Foreign War and the Township Council and we really did get a good turnout. People were engaged and wanted to see it.”
Dette thought the display was “thoughtful.”
“I was impressed with it,” Dette said. “It served a purpose by sending a message that war isn’t the answer. These soldiers deserve to be remembered just as much as the soldiers who died in the other wars. There wasn’t a ceremony or anything. It was just an unveiling of the wall. You look at the names and the ages of these soldiers and it’s so sad. And names keep getting added to the list.”
Dette said that there was a special section for the military personnel from New Jersey who have lost their lives in Iraq over the last year.
“There was a photograph of each soldier from New Jersey,” Dette said. “They were placed in frames under their names on the sidewalk in front of the wall. This group took the time to bring the wall here, and we were appreciative.”
Dette said that most of the reaction he received from having the wall on Hamilton Plaza was positive.
“There were no huge objections to it,” Dette said. “I met a couple whose son served in Iraq, and they were appreciative of the wall. Of course, there were a few disagreements with people supporting the current administration’s policy, and that’s understandable. We didn’t want it to cause problems. It was just a way of remembering those who have died in Iraq.”
The wall’s organizers said that the Iraqi death toll is in upwards of 11,000, so it would be difficult to include all of the names. The wall contains a partial list of Iraqi casualties. The group hopes to add more, adding panels for coalition forces, journalists, American civilians, and Iraqi male adults as well.
“We hope the wall will inspire others to create their own memorials and to add their voices to the increasing number of military families and citizens who are saying, ‘Bring our troops home alive,’ ” says the group’s website, which is www.iraqmemorialwall.org.
“We pray that soon we can stop adding names, American and Iraqi, to the wall, as there will be no more deaths ,and our soldiers who are still there can return home to their families.”
The Wall has been making stops throughout the state, including recent visits to Trenton, the Jersey Shore and Fort Lee.
“We were just happy that it chose to come to Weehawken,” Dette said