By Mark Heckathorn
Observer Staff
Nov. 10, 2007

More than 3,800 crosses made out of Popsicle sticks line the sidewalk on American University’s Friedheim Quad running from the Ward Building and Battelle-Tompkins Hall.

There is one marker for each American soldier who has died in the war in Iraq; crosses for Christians and single, upright sticks for Jews, Muslims and soldiers of other faiths. There is also a sign listing the names of the Americans who have died in the war since it began in 2003.

Observer photo by Jason Aldag.
Casey McNeill, CAS/SIS ‘08, from Rochester, N.Y., places
crosses representing Christian soldiers on the Friedheim Quad as part
of the United Methodist-Protestant Community’s remembrance vigil.
Single, upright sticks represent soldiers of other faiths. “We don’t
think about the costs. It’s important to have visual reminders
affecting people personally,” McNeill said. Saturday Nov. 10, 2007.

“We used to have a name reading ceremony, but it was tragically under attended,” said the Rev. Mark A. Schaeffer, the United Methodist chaplain at the university’s Kay Spiritual Life Center.

“Last year only eight or nine people attended,” he said. “The purpose of the vigil was to give a human face to those who died in the war, but we weren’t being effective in that.”

Kristen Walling, a sophomore in the School of International Service and one of the school’s social justice co-coordinators, was among the more than a dozen students gathered in Kay Wednesday evening to assemble the crosses.

“Other vigils and services were lowly attended,” Walling said. “At least this will catch the eye of more people. More people will hear about it and know it’s an issue.”

The students started planting the crosses at noon on Saturday and the markers will remain on the quad until Monday or Tuesday. They cover a 40-by-70-foot section of the quad. The rows are one foot apart with crosses every 6 inches.

“The vigil will be the presence of the crosses themselves. We want this to be a visual vigil,” Schaeffer said. “There won’t be a ceremony per se. We want the crosses to speak for themselves. That path is very, very frequently traveled and you would need to go past it.”

The students designed the layout of the crosses to resemble that of the grave markers at Arlington National Cemetery and other war cemeteries.

Observer photo by Jason Aldag.
3,800 crosses and single sticks were placed on the Friedheim
Quad as part of the United Methodist-Protestant Community’s
remembrance vigil in honor of soldiers killed in Iraq. Saturday
Nov. 10, 2007.

“Having it visual makes it a lot more realistic concept,” Walling said. “Hopefully when people see it on the quad, it will be a reminder of just how many have died.”

While Walling believes the war is wrong, she said the symbolism conveys the war’s cost in terms of human life.

“It’s a reminder that even if it is a noble cause, people are giving their lives for it,” she said.