"Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Indiana"
Iraq War Boots Display
~ Bloomington, Indiana

 
Over 85 Pairs of Combat Boots Representing
U. S. Soldiers from Indiana who have fallen in the Iraq War;

Iraqi Civilian Casualties Memorialized

Acclaimed War Casualties Exhibition on Display in Bloomington, Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, IN - The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in cooperation with the Bloomington Peace Action Coalition will honor U.S. military personnel and Iraqi civilians killed in the Iraq War with its traveling exhibition : Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Indiana, which will be on display at Ivy Tech Community College on Thursday, April 3rd , 7:00 am – 10:00 pm.

Eyes Wide Open: The Cost of War to Indiana focuses on the specific costs of war to the state of Indiana. The exhibit includes 85 pairs of boots representing servicemen and women from Indiana who have been killed, and a visual representation of the Iraqi civilian casualties. This exhibit is part of AFSC's national Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War network.

AFSC, an international social justice organization, created Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War to illustrate the lives destroyed in the war in Iraq. It first opened in Chicago's Federal Plaza with just over 500 pairs of boots in January 2004. The national exhibit was last displayed on Memorial Day weekend 2007 with over 3,400 pairs of boots. This was the last time that the entire death toll was represented in one location. Since then the exhibition has been divided into state displays and traveled throughout the nation to smaller cities and towns. All the state exhibits combined now include almost 4,000 pairs of combat boots representing U.S. military casualties, along with a memorial to the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have been killed in the conflict.

WHO:	American Friends Service Committee, Bloomington Peace Action Coalition
WHAT:	Eyes Wide Open - AFSC's widely acclaimed war casualties exhibition illustrating the human cost of the Iraq war
WHERE:	Ivy Tech Community College, 200 Daniels Way, Bloomington, Indiana
WHEN:	Thursday, April 3 rd , 7:00 am – 10:00 pm

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

For more information:
Anne McLaughlin, (812) 327-3804, annetm@bloomington.in.us