Special Arlington West Memorial @ Santa Monica Beach
May 30-31, Sunday and Monday
Where: Right next to the Santa Monica Pier (on the north side of the pier just down the steps)
When: This Sunday May 30th, and Monday May 31 ~ Starting both days at 11:00 AM and going on all day long until sunset ~
What: There will be over 800 crosses placed in the sand. Each cross represents an American soldier who has died in Iraq. The names, ages, hometowns and circumstances of their deaths are there for all to read on a plaque that is placed in front of this memorial. Another sign indicates that it would take the entire beach in order to recognize all of the Iraqi’s who have been killed in this war. The crosses are not meant to be used as a religious symbol.
Starting both days at 11:00 AM, the names of 100 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq, will be read, every hour, on the hour, This will go on for eight hours or until all of the names have been read.
Ron Kovic will be speaking at 1:00 PM on Monday. Ron is the Vietnam Veteran who wrote the book titled “Born on the Fourth of July”. A well known movie of this book was directed by Oliver Stone, starring Tom Cruise.
Who: This memorial is being put on by Veterans For Peace and others as part of the Arlington West Project. This memorial has been happening every Sunday for the last 3 months, at the Santa Monica Pier. Volunteers are needed.
Come and join with Ron Kovic, Ed Ellis, Mark Scully, Chuck Nixon, Larry Alpert, Jerry Schnitzer, Hugo Rasmussen, RV, Frank Dorrel, Andy Manoff, Sally Marr, Peter Dudar, Military Families Speak Out, Topanga Peace Alliance, the Green Party, Veterans For Peace and many others.
It will be happening every Sunday, all day long until sunset. We do plan on doing this every Sunday until the United States pulls the troops out of Iraq.
We need volunteers to help continue this project. Anyone in the Los Angeles area who would like to help can just show up on Sundays at 8:00 AM at the Santa Monica pier for set-up or call Ed Ellis at 323-934-3451 - email:
ehe3@msn.com or Frank Dorrel at 310-838-8131 - email:
fdorrel@addictedtowar.com More and more VFP chapters all over the country are presenting this peace memorial. For more information on this project go to:
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Arlington_west_121003.htm