Just Another Day at the Beach
Written by:
Robert Norton
robert.norton@rogers.com
Two large American flags flanking an antique 48 star Stars & Stripes covered coffin. Row after row of white crosses joined by sporadic bouquets of silk flowers and smaller American flags all planted neatly in the sand. What was this mock cemetery doing here on Miami Beach, in the midst of sunbathers, swimmers, and joggers? Arlington South was a single day memorial to remind those seeking sun, sand, and surf that America is still at war in Iraq, and that a day at the beach has a cost.
Getting people thinking about the costs of war is the mission of John Riccio, a Vietnam era veteran who served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne, and who now puts his energies into the volunteer organization Veterans for Peace (www.veteransforpeace.org). It was through the web-site of a Californian chapter of this group that John got the concept for Arlington South.
Transforming an idea into a living exhibit took serious commitment and effort. John began by canvassing local construction sites asking for donations of scrap wood that he & several volunteers then cut to size, assembled, and hand painted. Although John would like to have an individual cross to represent each soldier who has perished in Iraq, storage and transportation challenges have caused him to limit the memorial to 711 white crosses and 21 red crosses. Each Arlington South red cross represents 100 soldiers killed in the line of duty. John sets up the exhibit three times per year on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and March 19th to mark Iraq’s initial invasion.
The juxtaposition of a memorial to lives lost at war exhibited in the shadow of million dollar oceanfront condominiums has a sobering effect; some will die so that others may live well… very, very well. The emotional impact of Arlington South is most strongly felt at the sight of the name & age of individual soldiers displayed on each of the white crosses. John explained that the names & ages serve to humanize the exhibit. “I feel it allows a person to connect in a deeper way to the tragedy & loss this conflict in Iraq has produced, and that can get them thinking & hopefully lead them to action,” says John. All this human potential, so untapped at only 19, 21, 24 years old, so much potential that is now lost forever. This is the true cost of war. The immediate cost of lives prematurely ended & the resulting impact on families & loved ones, as well as the long-term cost of society’s being denied those young men & women’s future creativity & contributions.
How does a former soldier become a peace activist? Ironically it was not his own military experience that changed his perceptions about war. For John, the change came about during the first Gulf war when he began to notice inconsistencies between the US government’s words and its actions. Now, as the current conflict drags on it’s deja vu all over again and John feels, as do many Americans, that the Government has, and continues to manipulate intelligence and withhold facts with respect to the war in Iraq. John’s moral & ethical qualms were exacerbated by the deployment of both of his sons to Iraq during both the 1st and 2nd Gulf wars. Fortunately for John & his family, both his sons have made it through tours of duty in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom unscathed.
As the war in Iraq drags on, what the future holds remains to be seen. With respect to America’s continued military participation in this conflict John sums up the feelings of many with the simple question: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” Getting more people thinking about the answer to that question is the point of Arlington South, and John Riccio vows to keep setting up his exhibit as his contribution towards the goal of Peace.