This art installation at Merrill College honors American troops who lost their lives in the Iraq war. Photo: Louise Donahue

November 13, 2006

Memorial honors fallen servicemen and women

By Louise Donahue

A moving reminder of the price paid by American troops in Iraq was on display through Veterans Day at four of UCSC's colleges.

The cemetery-like memorial by Monterey antiwar activist and Army veteran Ed Leeper was installed November 5 on the grassy quad between College Nine and College Ten, and at Crown College and Merrill College.

"We wanted to return the exhibit out of respect to the soldiers," said Jose Reyes-Olivas, College Ten cocurricular program manager, who worked with his counterpart at College Nine, Erin Ramsden, to bring the exhibit back to UCSC.

The memorial was first displayed in 2004 on campus at College Nine and College Ten, then moved to the Women's Center. The memorial then honored more than 1,000 who died. The current memorial includes photos and brief background information on 2,500 servicemen and women, and has become too large to fit at a single college, Reyes-Olivas said.

"We opted not to do any program around it. We decided to let the memorial speak for itself," said Reyes-Olivas.

The memorial is scheduled to be taken down on Monday, November 13.