See you Saturday at the Crosses work party between 10am and 12:30pm.
Crosses of Lafayette work party schedule for 2012:
* Saturday February 11th, 10am-12:30pm
* Sunday March 11th, 10am-12:30pm
* Saturday April 14th, 10am-12:30pm
* Sunday May 13th, 10am-12:30pm,
* Memorial Day Vigil, May 28th, at 7:00pm
* Saturday June 9th, 10am-12:30pm
* Sunday July 8th, 10am-12:30pm
* Saturday August 11th, 10am-12:30pm
* Sunday Sept 9th, 10am-12:30pm
* Saturday October `13th, 10am-12:30pm
* Sunday November 11th, 10am-12:30pm
* Veterans Day Vigil, November 11th, at 5:00pm
* Saturday December 8th, 10am-12:30pm
2013-03-19 "Enduring vigil for fallen; Lafayette crosses pay silent tribute to war dead on anniversary of Iraq war"
by Kevin Fagan from "San Francisco Chronicle" [http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Lafayette-crosses-pay-tribute-to-war-dead-4365146.php]:
Bob Hanson visits the crosses that have gradually filled the swath of hillside as the war casualties mounted. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle
They seem to rise on the hill forever, from the street alongside the Lafayette BART Station to a thicket of pine trees to some unseen horizon beyond that - cross after cross, white and thick among the wild grasses. Thousands of them.
At first they appear nameless. But a closer look reveals words painted or tacked onto crossbars: Ramon T. Kaipat, Marine Lance Corp., died 4/11/12, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Sgt. Patrick McCaffrey, Army, died Balad, Iraq, 6/22/04. And on and on.
The crosses have stood on that hill since 2006 as what is believed to be the largest memorial in the U.S. to soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And even though the Iraq War - which began 10 years ago Tuesday - has been over since 2011 and the U.S. intends to pull out of Afghanistan by 2014, there is no plan to pull them down.
The organizers' idea was always to leave the crosses up until the troops come home. But just what that means is open to interpretation, because a residual force of U.S. troops is still in Iraq, and some American soldiers will remain in Afghanistan after 2014.
"Leaving it all up until the soldiers all come back was the commitment, but it's hard now to imagine when that could be, because it looks like we'll have people over there for a long time," said Jeff Heaton of Lafayette, the memorial's chief creator. "We'll just have to see as 2014 gets closer."
Born as an impulsive protest act, the Crosses of Lafayette display has outlasted vandalism and civic battles. For most commuters going to and from their cars in the BART lot, it's become just part of the landscape. But its purpose is still vibrant for supporters.
A sign at the top of the hill that tallies the dead is updated every month. Organizers used to erect a new cross for each new casualty, but they ran out of room years ago at about 4,000. Now they just put up a few new ones when they can, and rely on the sign to represent accuracy. As of Monday, it read 6,702.
'So many' -
Lynn MacMichael stared up at the number last week and fought back tears.
"So many, and still we have to put up new ones," said the 72-year-old retired humanities teacher, who helps tend the display. "Some people call this a protest site, but that's not what I see.
"For me, it is a memorial. When I see this hill, I think of the people who served and died overseas while we're here driving our big cars and living our lives like normal."
Heaton, a 59-year-old building contractor, first thought of planting the crosses as a lament for battle deaths right after the Iraq War started in 2003. He asked his friends and the hill's owners, peace activist Louise Clark and her husband, Johnson Clark, if he could use their slope, and with their consent he drove 15 crosses into the ground.
Vandals tore them out. Heaton tried again. They too disappeared.
Veterans Day work -
Three years later, Heaton had enlisted a team of supporters, including the Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center - and on Veterans Day 2006 they jammed 300 crosses into the hillside all at once. This time it was too many to tear out easily.
"This was just a grassroots statement we felt we had to make," Heaton said. "After that it kept growing, almost on its own."
The Clarks have since died, and their heirs told organizers they would honor the memorial commitment until the soldiers come home, Heaton said. He said they have discussed with him eventually replacing the crosses with veterans housing or a permanent memorial, but nothing has been decided.
Members of the Clark family did not respond to requests for comment.
Such displays are not in the normal character of Lafayette, an enclave of 24,000 known more for its leafy serenity, and at first debates raged at City Council meetings over whether the crosses should be allowed. Then in 2007, a mediator crafted an agreement under which the crosses and sign could not exceed city size limits, and the hill's defenders promised to keep the grasses down to minimize fire danger.
That was the end of civic strife. Insults and accolades have dwindled with the years.
None like it -
Heaton and his group said they've never found a similar memorial as big. "I've wondered, 'Why are we the only ones?' " he said. "I don't know the answer."
Not everyone in Lafayette has adjusted to the memorial.
"It's one thing to have a parade or a service, but a thing like this is an eyesore," said Bob Zimmerman, 79, a retired contractor who served as an Army corporal in the Korean War. "It's not right."
He stopped by the hill the other day when he saw MacMichael and her friend Bob Hanson of Walnut Creek assessing the weeds.
"Why don't you do the people of Lafayette a favor, tear these crosses down and build a real memorial instead?" he said. "Nobody wants them here."
"Well, I'd disagree," said Hanson, 81, a retired college professor who was a second lieutenant in the Korean War. "I think these make an important statement."
The two veterans of the same war gazed calmly at each other.
Divergent views -
"We appreciate your input," Hanson said.
"It's an eyesore," Zimmerman said quietly as he walked away.
Sgt. McCaffrey's mother, Nadia McCaffrey of Tracy, couldn't disagree more.
She personally installed her son's cross at the bottom of the hill, and said having it there "is extremely moving."
"It's a sacred place now," said McCaffrey, who has devoted herself to helping returning veterans since her son's death. "That may disturb some people, but they need to see it."
A running tally of the servicemen and women killed in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan has rolled steadily upward, even now that the strife is winding down. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle
On Sunday November 12, 2006 Bob Hanson a member of Mt. Diablo Peace Center joined members of Rossmoor's Grandparents for Peace, the Lamorinda Peace and Justice Group and even some passerby's to plant some 300 crosses as part of the "Crosses of Lafayette" project created by Lafayette resident Jeff Heaton to remind people of the troops that have died in the Iraq conflict. 11/27/06 {Photographed by Frederic Larson} Ran on: 11-28-2006 John and Louise Clark, who own the property where the memorial is located, applaud a speaker at the City Council meeting. Photo: Frederic Larson, SFC
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