On Monday, nearly 7,000 makeshift tombstones reminded those traveling down Eighth Avenue of the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On the south sidewalk of the road, just next to Northwest 31st Drive, the timeline began.
“Afghanistan 2001,” the first plaque read.
Stretching about a mile down the busy street, 6,893 tombstones — representing those who died in recent wars — were hoisted into the grass along the sidewalk.
As part of the annual Memorial Mile event, the Gainesville chapter of Veterans for Peace propped the tombstone replicas along the stretch of Eighth Avenue between Northwest 31st Drive and Northwest 23rd Street. Each tombstone is dedicated to an individual serviceman, marking his or her full name, date of death, military branch and hometown.
“This is about the cost of war,” said VFP co-founder and president Scott Camil. “Our country’s been at war now for over 17 years, and the public isn’t tuned in.”
Camil, a Vietnam War veteran with two Purple Hearts, said he started the Memorial Mile event in 2007 to show the public what casualties of war really mean. The number 6,893 is vital to convey the real human cost of these wars, he said.
“People just see a number in their head,” Camil said. “When you go to Eighth Avenue, you see what that really is.”
When Bobby Boyd walked along the Memorial Mile with his family Monday evening, he struggled to fight back his tears.
“Just about everybody out here is younger than me,” the 49-year-old said. “Now I got a kid about to graduate and go to college, so there’s a lot of these kids my son’s age.”
Boyd, a veteran who served in the U.S. Navy during the Gulf War, said it bothers him to think that so many young Americans died in Iraq and Afghanistan when the motive behind both wars was unclear.
“(These kids) never had an opportunity to really know what they was fighting for,” he said. “Maybe one percent of the people out here really know what the whole cause was about.”
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About two miles away from the symbolic tombs, as Century Tower’s afternoon bells chimed across campus, Courtney Bagans read a book by the University Auditorium.
In honor of Memorial Day, UF’s official Facebook and Twitter pages released a video describing how the 157-foot-tall carillon tower serves as a memorial to students and alumni who died in World Wars I and II.
Bagans, a UF industrial and systems engineering fifth year, said although she didn’t know about the tower’s special meaning and history, she feels it makes the landmark all the more important for students.
“I think it’s an important symbol on campus, knowing that it’s dedicated to veterans,” the 23-year-old said.
In World War I, 17 UF students were enlisted into service and lost their lives, said UF spokesperson Margot Winick. More than 400 UF students enlisted into service died in World War II, she said.
While Bagans said she doesn’t know any veterans personally, she feels it’s important to honor them — and is glad a prominent landmark on campus does just that.
“It makes it have a little more meaning,” she said.
Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @hoffdavid123
From left: David Gold accompanies his wife, Judy Gold, as she records all of the tombstones with flags and/or flowers left behind. Each year, she makes sure the tombstones of veterans with connections to the area are marked with flags so they can be found easily.
