Memorial Day Vigil at the Lafayette Crosses

Iraq Body Count has documented over 105,177 news-documented civilian deaths by violence in Iraq since the US invasion in 2003 (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/) and the civilian death toll is much higher due to malnutrition, poor medical care, contaminated water, radiation poisoning, and other health hazards of the US occupation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War). The number of troops killed in action has reached 5,462 (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/). To bear witness to these crimes, about eighty people held a Memorial Day vigil at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 31st. They gathered at the Crosses of Lafayette, (http://lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com/) a hillside overlooking the highway and just across the street from the Lafayette BART station, where, since 2006, volunteers have met at 10:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of every month to construct, paint, plant and maintain wooden markers -- Crosses, Crescents, Stars of David, Hindu and Buddhist Wheels, Pentacles, radiation signs, and other memorials to those we have lost. Personal touches mark several, including rainbow-colored mosaics, flags, photos of the fallen soldiers, sillouhettes depicting death by suicide, and tiny crosses to remember the child victims of war.

The speakers included Chili B, John Fitzgerald (http://johnfitzgeraldforcongress.com/), the organizers of the "Crosses of Lafayette" initiative, and other local poets and activists. The vigil closed with a rousing chorus of "We Shall Overcome," led by the Musicians Action Group (http://musiciansactiongroup.org/). Follow-up actions are planned for the downtown Livermore plaza, (South Livermore freeway exit) June 19th, from noon to 11:00 p.m.