Students commemorate fifth year of Iraq War

Author: Anthony Adragna

Dozens of students crowded the Gamut Room March 18 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the War in Iraq.

Students performed a variety of largely original works throughout the evening. Performances included songs, poetry, dance and other visual exhibits. Paintings, photographs and other visual artwork were placed in the rear of the Gamut Room. The Dead Jettsons and Hans the Bear, a band which came from Philadelphia to play a free show, had sets at the event.

Other groups played the bongos, read poetry and played acoustic guitar. Many students dropped in to see the event and pay their respects.

Himali Soin '08, who organized the event, said the success of a similar event last year led her to create a follow-up this year.

"We did this last year and it was really moving," she said. "Because it's the war, it's hard to get a serious discussion going. Art is a way people can express what they feel without feeling the pressure to say it explicitly. The symbolic message is strong."

Several students attended a midnight visual in the early hours of March 19 to remember the war. Starting at midnight, the names of the dead in the war were read continuously for the next 24 hours.

Dialogues for Peace sponsored the readings and two readers alternated reading names of American and Iraqi dead from the steps of Mead Chapel.

Other students wrote letters about the war. Four thousand flags, commemorating the number of American soldiers killed in the last five years, were placed down on the green by McCullough. Two Iraqi flags were placed in the memorial as well.

Soin acknowledged the difficulty of beginning a discussion about the war.

"What do we do to begin the discussion?" she said. "I don't reprimand anyone for not discussing it. I just want people to think about once a day."

Ongoing discussions with veterans of the war in Burlington have shown Soin the need to get out of Iraq immediately. Soin also recognizes the difficulties of doing anything to help the war effort at the College.

"We're too far out to do anything," she said. "But it's not about protest, it's about remembrance."