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End War, Don't Honor It

By Lane Anderson

On November 2, 2003, a group of antiwar protesters put up 340 crosses, for the American military personnel who had died in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, on the beach next to Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara. I had been participating in peace marches and protests for more than a year at that time, but after the invasion of Iraq, I participated by setting up a table and putting out educational information. (I was uncertain, as a VN "baby-killer," about protesting during war). I took the table and information to the beach that first Sunday and set it up.

We decided, after we took the crosses down, to do it again. Until that decision, it had been planned as a one-time thing. Stephen Sherrill, who thought of using the crosses as a protest, asked the Veterans for Peace, whom I was representing, to help out as an organization. We still had it in our minds as a protest at that time. I can tell you that only the experience of engaging with the public, as they witnessed our installation, was able to turn me from a protester to a listener. I began to see the power of the installation on the passersby. I think it is true of most of us who stayed with it--it changed us, we didn't change it. At least one VVAW cap or shirt has usually been present.

I am by nature impulsive. It was my tendency to approach people, as they looked, with my opinion. I learned slowly to let the display take people beyond opinions and to a place where we could discuss things with open hearts.

I hope that Arlington West will remain a memorial. Without much effort, it awakens many of the passersby to the cost of war. With a little gentle coaxing, many can get beyond the cost of war and discuss the cause of war.

"Are there so many? How sad! But what can I do about it?"

"Well, if we all pitched in and changed the need for resources in faraway lands, our troops could come home!"

"What do you mean?"

And the conversation thickens. I try not to mention George W. I know he is not the main problem. I try to focus on the cause of war unless someone needs a memorial. I understand that my goal is not to memorialize warriors, but to end war; not to make it easier for the families and friends, but to turn them into antiwar advocates. Maybe it needs to be painful for those who send their sons and daughters to war. Maybe they need to understand that their sons and daughters died for lies. But I want them to come to that conclusion with understanding and support, not with ranting and preaching. So it is a delicate balance, but I want to remember that my goal is to end war, not to honor it.

Arlington West is much more than a memorial for me; it is an intervention into societal forgetfulness. Unlike the traditional grieving process that allows people to go back to their lives, I do not want them to do so. I do not want them to lapse back into forgetfulness. Unlike with traditional grieving, I do not want to absolve them of blame; I want them to understand that they do bear the responsibility for the dead ... that it is in their lifestyles that they kill!

Our crosses and equipment have been installed at SBCC, Ventura College and Ventura Beach. Installations patterned after ours have appeared in Santa Monica, San Diego, Oceanside, Encinitas, Orange County, Oregon, Idaho, Michigan, New York, and Florida.