FLAGS REPRESENTING U.S. WAR DEAD ON K-STATE CAMPUS AGAIN

3/17/2008
MANHATTAN — Approximately 4500 yellow and red flags, each representing one U.S. soldier who has died in Iraq or Afghanistan respectively, will line the sidewalks of Kansas State University the week of March 24th.  The flags, which will go from the K-State Student Union to the Quadrangle, include the name, age, and hometown of each soldier.  The flags will be grouped together by the hometown states.

The week is being organized by the K-State Alliance for Peace & Justice (KAPJ).  KAPJ will be tabling outside the K-State Student Union each day over lunchtime, and will be playing the audio recording of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam”.  

With the passing of the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on March 19, this war memorial will be an important reminder to students and the community about the human suffering involved in war.  “There is a big difference between reading a number like 4500,”  said Jeff Stilley, President of KAPJ, “and seeing the massive number of flags with real people’s names on them.”  Regardless of political opinions, this memorial will be a powerful event for anyone who takes the time to look at the flags.

This is the second year that KAPJ has held a flag memorial on the K-State campus.  Last year, KAPJ put up only yellow flags representing Coalition soldiers killed in Iraq, about 3500 flags at that time.



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