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MARCH 15, 2008
Names tell the story Ojai event honors military killed in Iraq war As she wrote the names of the dead on a sidewalk, Anne Vanoni, a Holy Cross associate, couldn’t help but wonder who they were and how they died. And what of the wives and husbands, sons and daughters they left behind? “It’s natural to wonder about them,” Vanoni said as she knelt with a piece of blue chalk on a sidewalk in Libbey Park in Ojai, California, writing the names of some of the U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq. The Ventura woman was among scores of people who went to the park on Friday, March 14, to honor U.S. personnel killed in Iraq since the war started in March 2003. The names of the dead, which organizers put at 3,988 as of Thursday, are being written on the sidewalk around a fountain at the park over the three-day period that started Friday. Evan Austin, an organizer of the Ojai Peace Coalition event called “Not One More!,” has made it a point to honor the dead every year since the first anniversary of the war. In the beginning, Austin added one hash mark to his car for every service member killed. As the years passed, he ran out of room on his car. He decided the dead would be better remembered if their names could be written for all to see. Sister Dolores Jean Bray, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Ventura, has done the math. Sister Dolores figures there is enough room for 60 names on each of the 70-odd concrete squares around the fountain. “All the names should fit,” said Sister Dolores as she surveyed the area around the fountain. She said she felt compelled to go to Ojai Friday because “I don’t believe that the way to peace is through violence.” “Violence doesn’t promote peace. Only peace does.” As Sister Dolores spoke, she stood next to some 3,600 color photographs of the war dead posted on a large board for all to see. “If you look at their faces and read their names, you can see they come from many different backgrounds and ages,” she said. Frank Peterson, a 76-year-old Korean War veteran from Ventura, spent weeks assembling the photographs of the dead, along with their names and ages. As he did, he wondered about the person staring silently from each photograph. “It’s natural to think about these people when you spend as much time with their photographs as I did,” Peterson said. With more troops being killed every month, Peterson knows his work is far from over. “It’s something I need to get back to soon,” he said, noting he’s assembled about 3,600 photos so far and has to gather an additional 400. Diane Pangelina of Camarillo has made it a point to remember the dead in Iraq on every anniversary of the war. “War is something that has affected me deeply,” said Pangelina, recalling how her father was killed in World War II and her husband was wounded in Vietnam. “I’m here because it makes a difference to me. I hope it can make a difference to others, too.” * * * |
