War Memorial On the Beach

We thought we were walking from the beach parking lot to the amusement pier, roller coaster, new, merry-go-round, old, and many other rides but came upon 1,653 white markers upright in the sand, a mini Normandy, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic denoting the number of dead American soldiers, men and women, killed in Iraq since the war began. That was last weekend. Since then the number has risen to over 1,700.  Last weekend the builders of the Memorial, obviously sanctioned by the City Fathers of Santa Monica, temporary as it may be, built on sand, had already lovingly assembled 1,000 photographs of those who had been killed. Now their job of completion will be even more difficult, and getting more difficult day by day.

Was it sinful to take photos? Am I a ghoul? We posed in front of the expanse of 'crosses' spaced so neatly on the beach. We'd come with innocents to play. Brought a camera. The war memorial was a total surprise; it hadn't made it to the newspapers or TV yet. An oddity. Broadcasting the event too political just yet? I think Vietnam war protester, former husband of Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden still lives in Santa Monica but I'm not positive. 

Today's editorial page of the LA Times features a long editorial about the war in Iraq followed by an invitation to readers to "edit" their editorial to suit their own views about the war. That's called a "Wiki": "Rewrite the editorial yourself, using a Web page known as a 'wiki,' at  latimes.com/wiki."  Novel proceedure I've missed out on. Although, I'd rather start from the beginning all on my own, unaided by news-speak.

Weird things occur to me that aren't supposed to occur to a right thinking American. For example, the Iraq Sunnis hate their countrymen Iraq Sheites (sp?) as much,  if not more than, they hate Americans.  That part's obvious: the next part wicked; no wonder Saddam Hussein had so much trouble keeping order. Religious warfare has no solution. Neither god will die. Neither deep thinkers, nor deep pockets will bring about a solution. Fixing newspaper editorials will merely create the fleeting sensation of having been right.

Thinking is out. I just want to go back to the beach, stand by all those various denomination markers and weep.

Barry