LAKE FOREST PARK— Unlike most graveyards where military personnel lie to rest, the graveyard erected on a small grassy area in Lake Forest Park Saturday, March 13, was only a temporary reminder of one of the certainties of war— fatalities.
Visuals, such as tombstones, often imply what words cannot completely express.
“We wanted good visual protest art to remind people of not just the money costs, but the costs in human life,” said Bob Trutnau, a peace protester.
From 10 a.m. until noon that day, more than 500 replicas of tombstones caught the eye of residents traveling past the Ballinger and Bothell Way intersection, which runs by Towne Center.
The tombstones were crafted by members of the Lake Forest Park for Peace group, which is affiliated with the Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW) coalition.
Members of the Lake Forest Park for Peace group, which is comprised of more than 30 members, conduct demonstrations every Saturday from 11 a.m. until 12 noon. The group typically meets prior to demonstrating and discusses current issues at Third Place Commons.
This demonstration, however, was on a much larger scale, due to the one-year anniversary of the war.
Trutnau, who has been a member of the group since Dec. 2002, said the group formed in the winter of 2002, when the country was dealing with the then impending invasion of Iraq.
He said the model cemetery, which is intended to look like Arlington National Cemetery, is to commemorate the 557 Americans who have died and the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have also been killed.
Trutnau said last winter he was walking to Towne Center and saw the group protesting and thought to himself, “Who are those rebel rousers?” He approached the group, instantly became involved and has been a member ever since.
Selma Bonham, a Mill Creek resident who travels to Lake Forest Park to participate in the events, said the group made quite an assortment of tombstones in honor of the occasion.
“Some tombstones have the Star of David, some have an Islamic symbol,” Bonham said. “We tried to represent all the major religions, it is important to think multiculturally.”
The tombstones, made from a Styrofoam board with plastic on either side, were installed by the group after they obtained permission from police officials to display them, Bonham said.
Elizabeth Simmons-O’Neil, a Lake Forest Park resident who is also a member of the group, said the group demonstrates active citizenship and has formed around basic American values, such as freedom of speech.
“I think people feel it is crucial now that we are in an election year,” Simmons-O’Neil said. “It is crucial that passers-by are reminded of the cost of failed policy.”
Simmons-O’Neil said the group also conducts food drives, holds vigils and participates in marches.
The group will, in fact, be taking their tombstones with them to another peace protest this weekend in downtown Seattle.
“It is really important to be engaged in the life of the community,” Simmons-O’Neil said. “It has been great to meet like-minded people.”
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