Iraq war memorial stops in Tacoma

TACOMA – A temporary war memorial to help people remember the American service members who have died during the war in Iraq is traveling around the Pacific Northwest.

The memorial made a stop in Tacoma over the weekend, where Jeri Marie Bennett spotted the traveling graveyard.

“It startled me, the enormity of it,” the Puyallup woman said. “When you stop and realize how many young people we’ve lost, it makes you feel sick.”

The Arlington Northwest Memorial moves from city to city, serving as a reminder that the 4,416 U.S. troops who have died in the war are more than just a number.

“This is a message on the true cost of war,” said Ray Nacanaynay, president of the Tacoma chapter of Veterans for Peace, which sponsored the event. “These are real people.”

“We want people to see what 2,200 lives look like,” vice president Dave Dittemore said. Because of limited space, organizers were able to put up only 2,200 markers.

The project was started six years ago to spark conversation and emotion among those who happened upon the graveyard. The markers are cut from white cardboard with the name, age and date of death written on the placard.

In some cases, family members of the fallen have written personal messages or placed a photograph on the marker.

About 100 of the placards displayed in Marine Park over the weekend listed the names of military members from Washington.

“It was a very moving experience when you read the headstones and see what’s on them,” said Don R. Johnson, a Bellingham man who visited the memorial with his daughter. “It personalizes the war. This really brings it home.”