Honoring 2,000 dead soldiers
Jason Mercury
Issue date: 10/31/05 Section: News
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Tomorrow and Wednesday, a group of concerned students from Western Illinois University will be paying tribute to the U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi civilians who have died during the war in Iraq. Student volunteers, led by Jason Reitz, a recreation, park and tourism graduate student, will be hosting a 33-hour memorial vigil in the grassy courtyard behind Stipes Hall and the adjacent Malpass Library sometimes known as the Mall.
The vigil will include the recitation of each fallen soldier's name, his or her place of birth and the planting of a small American flag as a symbol of each soldier's life and death. This series of events will be followed by one minute of silence to pay homage to the soldiers' prematurely silenced voices. This ceremony, which is open to all members of the community, will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow and continue through the early hours of Wednesday and into twilight until all the American soldiers' names have been said and remembered.
"This event has been organized because I've noticed around campus that the war has gone to the back of people's minds; I want to raise the local awareness so that we can look at the situation with a clear, educated eye and talk about future action and consequences," Reitz said.
The vigil is neither an anti-war protest nor an advocacy campaign. It has been designed to unite both the Macomb citizens and Western students in the most neutral situation possible. Reitz said he has noble hopes for the 33-hour vigil and the panel discussion that will follow the vigil at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the University Union Grand Ballroom.
"I'm excited to see what comes out of this. I am personally hoping to gain more insight into this situation from the panel discussion. I hope that we can come together and unite as citizens and have our view of the Iraq war be an informed view. We should find an end to this conflict not only for our soldiers, but for the Iraqi citizens as well," Reitz said.
"The symposium discussion is not for or against the war. We are going to balance the panel as much as we can, the discussion is not going to be about whether we should or shouldn't be there, the point is that we are there, and something must be done."
The vigil will include the recitation of each fallen soldier's name, his or her place of birth and the planting of a small American flag as a symbol of each soldier's life and death. This series of events will be followed by one minute of silence to pay homage to the soldiers' prematurely silenced voices. This ceremony, which is open to all members of the community, will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow and continue through the early hours of Wednesday and into twilight until all the American soldiers' names have been said and remembered.
"This event has been organized because I've noticed around campus that the war has gone to the back of people's minds; I want to raise the local awareness so that we can look at the situation with a clear, educated eye and talk about future action and consequences," Reitz said.
The vigil is neither an anti-war protest nor an advocacy campaign. It has been designed to unite both the Macomb citizens and Western students in the most neutral situation possible. Reitz said he has noble hopes for the 33-hour vigil and the panel discussion that will follow the vigil at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the University Union Grand Ballroom.
"I'm excited to see what comes out of this. I am personally hoping to gain more insight into this situation from the panel discussion. I hope that we can come together and unite as citizens and have our view of the Iraq war be an informed view. We should find an end to this conflict not only for our soldiers, but for the Iraqi citizens as well," Reitz said.
"The symposium discussion is not for or against the war. We are going to balance the panel as much as we can, the discussion is not going to be about whether we should or shouldn't be there, the point is that we are there, and something must be done."
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