Memorial Day Observance  May 30, 2005 -  in Eugene Oregon

 

“In just this century, many millions of men, women and children have perished in war. May there be an end to war.”
-Inscribed on the Veterans Memorial in Skinner Butte Park, Eugene, Oregon

 
 
 
 

With our estimated setup time of three hours with a crew of 20-24 people we had to get an early start. If each of our four four-person stake teams could install one stake every 30 seconds it would take four teams just over 3 hours to complete the job. We met at the Vet Memorial parking lot at  6 a.m. and started the demanding process of erecting 1660 stakes along a one and a half mile stretch of bike path. We started near the center point just west of the Vet Memorial and broke into two teams, one team to work each direction simultaneously, East and West. The plan called for each team to break further into two smaller teams to measure, install the stakes, attach the flags in leapfrog fashion. We used two trucks, one for the East team and one for the West team. They offloaded  the stakes to the wheelbarrow drivers to get them where they were needed by the stakers. The two pictures above show Peter Chabarek on the scene early in the morning, just after we got started.
 
 
 

Here is Ron Schwindler (U.S. Army-Vietnam era) and Kim Wilson (U.S. Army-Vietnam era) of the East Team pounding in the last stakes at the far east end and looking a little relieved right next to the Campbell Senior Center.  Yet another crew setup our "Art Gallery" display of war images in the Campbell Center courtyard, just 40 protected feet back from the bike path. A mile and a half to the west, the West Team poses after completing their half of the setup.  Our display was huge, stretching 1-1/2 miles long, with the War Images Gallery at one end, and the the Veterans Memorial where our hourly memorial services were conducted, near the middle. It was impossible for anyone to get any but a fraction of the total experience we projected, and a strong experience it was. For the most part the flag line was completely unmonitored by us.  The members of our group beat a path between the War Images Gallery and the Veterans Memorial in an attempt to fully experience what we had created. The effect of passing flag after flag after flag, each with a name that screamed in silence to be read, and an age of death that always seemed to be wrong, left even our own crew and myself in stunned horror, or tears, or both.
 
 
 

Throughout the day starting at 9:00 am, Edgar Peara (U.S. Army - WWII era) who is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister provided a brief hourly service for anyone who wished to join us in mourning.  The services were conducted on the other side of the bike path, just opposite of the Veterans Memorial. Edgars presence was a valuable contribution to our memorial effort. Many people took the time to stop their recreation and join us.
 
 
 

Elaine in front of memorial.  Jack Dresser (U.S. Army - Vietnam era) and Edgar. Jack Dresser, Gordon Sturrock (U.S. Army-Cold War era) and Edgar in front of memorial.
 
 
 
 

Flag for American Servicepersons Barbara Heald, age 60, and Alexander S. Coulter, age 35. Two narrow views of the flag lined bike path which stretched out for over one and a half miles.
 
 
 

Throughout the day there were many moving moments, for many people. The strongest for me by far involved this couple, David and Kim Stahan of Springfield. They had been hovering around the memorial for a bit so I knew they had more than a passing interest in what we were doing. I thought David might be a Vietnam vet so I asked him if he was. He replied "no" and went on to tell me that his wife had just lost her son, Ken, in the Iraq war.  After a short search they found the flag with her sons name on it, pictured above. Later she came to our bell table to ring a bell for her son. A few painful rings later she cried "I can't ring it enough".
 
 
 

Some scenes at the War Image Gallery, myself, mournful singer on grass, Gordie Albi, and Peter Chabarek. One of our dedicated volunteers Magi, reported that in the afternoon, a woman in her thirties walked her bike around the photo gallery.  She looked like a teacher, to Magi.  She paused and with her arm and motioned toward the bike path with the flags and asked, "Those are all the soldiers we've lost in all the wars?"  Magi said, "No, just the Iraq war."  Her face paled, her head swirled slightly. Magi thought she was going to faint.  She stood in silence several minutes, then shaking her head sadly said, "Too much, too much. "
 
 
 
 

Reggie DeSoto (U.S. Army-Vietnam era), does a native American prayer ceremony with burning sage. We put up warning signs about the disturbing content of our picture display, and tried to greet everyone with a verbal warning as well. Many decided not to enter. Still, over 500 people walked in throughout the day to view the gallery. There were many instances of people leaving in haste, so disturbed by what they saw that they couldn't bear another second. Numerous parents came through with their kids. Typically they stopped short when told about the extremely disturbing content of our gallery, never to return. But some wandered off a bit only to return after discussing whether they really wanted to see our display. There was never any shortage of emotions. From the time we first started working on this beautiful idea, to probably right now as you are reading about it here, there have been many tears.
 
 

Memorial Day Observance - Main Page

Our Press Release - dated May 26, 2005

More pictures and story of the day...

The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak

Text of Memorial Service

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