Eyes Wide Open - The Cost of War to Illinois

On Wednesday November 1, 2006 MFSO-Chicago and The Lake Area Peace Partners will host Eyes Wide Open - The Cost of War to Illinois at the College of Lake County. The exhibit will be open to the public from 1 pm to 8 pm. During the day, we will screen the acclaimed documentary The Ground Truth which tells the stories of Iraq Veterans - in their own words - about the difficulties they face when they return home to a country that lacks understanding and resources to address their needs.

Eyes Wide Open - The Cost of War to Illinois is a smaller version of the American Friends Service Committe's exhibit that has traveled across the United States since 2004. Originally, 504 pairs of boots placed in the Chicago Federal Plaza in January 2004, the exhibit has grown to nearly 2800 pairs of boots to represent the fallen Servicemembers from all states and hundreds of pairs of empty shoes to represent the loss of innocent civilian life in Iraq. The large exhibit has been displayed coast to coast including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington DC, and Sacramento. The Illinois exhibit has been "on tour" for the last several weeks. Family members and friends of the fallen often stop by and leave momentos that become a part of the exhibit.

MFSO-Chicago and The Lake Area Peace Partners invite you to stop by and visit the exhibit that speaks directly to our hearts and reminds us of the human cost of war

After Pat's Birthday

Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read letter

By Kevin Tillman

It is my brother Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after.

It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military.
He spoke about the risks with signing the papers.
How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people.
How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition.
How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we get out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:
Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people,
or to the world,
or harbored terrorists,
or was involved in the September 11 attacks,
or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger,
or had mobile weapons labs,
or WMD, or had a need to be liberated,
or we needed to establish a democracy,
or stop an insurgency,
or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is.
Something like that.

To read more please link here