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Traveling exhibit honors military

A traveling exhibit honoring the casualties of the Iraq War made a stop this weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus.

The exhibit, "Eyes Wide Open," displays a pair of boots for every American military death in Iraq.

The American Friends Service Committee, a pacifist group and a branch of the Pacifist Quaker Church, created the exhibit. As the display makes its way around the country, more boots are added at each stop for the growing number of casualties.

"We're hoping that people see the boots and realize just how many soldiers are losing their lives over this war," AFSC member Mary Zerkel said. "It is definitely an eye-opening experience that makes the war more personal, rather than political."

The exhibit was unveiled in January 2004 with 504 pairs of boots. There are now more than 2,700 pairs of boots, including 60 from Wisconsin, representing American lives lost in Iraq. The AFSC hopes to memorialize the soldiers and Iraqis killed in the conflict, as well as show the history, cost and consequences of the war.

Also displayed in the exhibit are some pairs of shoes to represent the number of Iraqi civilian deaths in the conflict, which totals more than 22,000 at this time.

The exhibit was displayed on the UW-Stout lawn, and every hour on Friday, the names of Wisconsin soldiers lost in the war were read, along with some Iraqi civilians' names. Students were encouraged to stop and pay respect throughout the day.

"We're excited to have an exhibit of this magnitude reach the lawns of campus," Melissa Cline, spokesperson for UW-Stout, said. "We hope that students take the time to appreciate what others have done for us in the war."

Visitors and students were invited to leave notes of commemoration, photos, identification tags, flowers and American flags to accompany the boots.

The exhibit has already traveled all over the nation, making stops at colleges, churches and community halls. It has also been featured in a music video by blues musician Robert Cray.