Arlington Midwest

Arlington Midwest-

In a manner similar to permanent

war memorials, is a place to

mourn, reflect, contemplate, grieve, meditate;

to honor and acknowledge

those who've lost their lives;

and to reflect upon the costs of war.

Arlington Midwest-

Also is intended to draw public attention to,

and to open a discourse on the subject of

both military and civilian deaths

during the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

This traveling exhibit, meant to show the human cost of war and to honor the fallen U.S. service members of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, is built primarily of recycled materials and maintained by a volunteer workforce. Arlington Midwest includes a simulated tombstone with name, rank, age and home state for each fallen U.S. service member. If your organization is interested in hosting Arlington Midwest, please email Jeff.

Arlington Midwest-

consists of multiple sections. Below you will find examples of the different sections that make this exhibit unique among the many like exhibits around the country. We try to honor and show the human cost of all the lives lost (American and Iraqi).

March 19-24, 2007, Lucas County Courthouse lawn

March 19-24, 2007, Lucas County Courthouse lawn

The 2 Above photos "try" to capture the main part of the exhibit. In this showing we displayed over 3700 tombstones representing the U.S. service members lost in the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.

March 19-24, 2007, Lucas County Courthouse lawn

This display represents those U.S. service members who have returned to the United States to take their life by their own hands-deaths, which although directly caused by these wars, are never been acknowledged by government officials. These veterans are not listed officially as casualties.

March 19-24, 2007, Lucas County Courthouse lawn

This display represents U.S. service members who lost their lives in the few days the exhibit was up. Once the display is up it would be very difficult to place the new casualties where they would go in the main section. We also think it's important to represent them in some way so we place the tombstones that represent these casualties in their own display.

March 19-24, 2007, Lucas County Courthouse lawn

This display represents the human cost in Iraqi casualties. Ascending polls with known names and ages of Iraqis who have died in the conflict. You would have to walk around this display 177 times to reach the estimated number of 655,000 lost in this tragic war.

March 19-24, 2007, Lucas County Courthouse lawn

From time to time, a friend or family member will find a loved one's stone and leave something to express their rememberence and feelings. We keep those tokens and place them with their tombstone on all future exhibits.