Amid students playing Frisbee and tanning on the HUB lawn yesterday were 115 pairs of black combat boots. Not far from them, 50 pairs of miscellaneous shoes, some of them belonging to children, were scattered.
The empty combat boots were placed in military formation, with each pair representing a U.S. soldier from Pennsylvania who died in the Iraq War. The civilian shoes represented Iraqi casualties.
"The boots have a powerful visual element," Mary Vollero, of the State College Peace Center, said. "You can see them and imagine who that person might have been."
Each pair of boots is tagged with the name, age and hometown of a fallen service member. Surrounding some of the boots are small memorials, such as American flags, family pictures and poems sent in by soldiers' family members.
Under the toe of the boot representing 21-year-old Jonathan from Oil City is a letter from Jonathan's father to his deceased son. The letter reads, "I will always look forward to seeing you one day when God calls me home."
According to the display, 2,345 U.S. soldiers have died in the war in Iraq. The first row of boots in the exhibit is made up entirely of casualties from areas close to State College, like Port Matilda.
In addition to the boots representing U.S. soldiers, everyday shoes -- from men's sneakers to red high heels-- represented Iraqi civilians.
"In the display, there's one pair of GI boots surrounded by 50 civilian shoes --representing the ratio of 50 Iraqi deaths to each U.S. soldier death," Ron Matason, of Veterans for Peace, said.
So far, more than 11,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. Tiny, colorful baby shoes represented a 4-month-old Iraqi baby who was killed.
Another pair of gray shoes represented a 71-year-old casualty.
"Our goal was to present a visual representation of the human cost of war and to provide a place where people can gather to talk about their feelings and honor those who died," Vallero said.
Penn State student Ruth Parrish, a member of United Campus Ministries, said she was deeply affected by the display.
"It was really moving to see such a huge age range. It went from a 2-year-old Iraqi kid to a 21-year-old American soldier -- someone my own age," Parrish said.
The display also states that Pennsylvania tax payers have spent about $10.1 billion financing the war in Iraq -- enough to immunize every child in the world for a year or provide 1,035,811 scholarships for university students. State College alone has spent $16.6 million.
Matason said he hopes the display might encourage students to write their congressmen and senators to express their views.
"As youth, it's so important because the youth are paying the price, and they are sent to fight these wars," he said.
In the meantime, Matason asked that "everyone would try to remember the name of at least one soldier killed in combat because that is the first step in honoring them."
Groups involved in bringing the exhibit to campus included United Campus Ministries, State College Friends Meeting, Veterans for Peace, the State College Peace Center and the American Friends Service Committee.
The display, which is part of a nationwide campaign, came to HUB lawn yesterday and will continue from noon to 6 p.m. today and tomorrow.
The Very Long Day, a film made by two local artists, and Arlington West were shown in 102 Thomas last night as part of the activities. Tonight at 5 in the HUB gazebo, there will be poetry readings concerning peace. The events will conclude tomorrow night with a memorial service and candlelight vigil at the exhibit on the HUB lawn.
