As the five year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, Military Spouses for Change (MSC) is inviting you to join us as we remember our fallen soldiers on Sunday, March 16th.

Fort Hood has lost the most soldiers in the nation to the war in Iraq. While the DoD considers the number to be 432, an NPR article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7550621) about Fort Hood's Gold Star Families (written nearly a year ago) had that number at more than 600. We suspect the DoD figure may only cover fatalities from hostile fire and not suicides, friendly fire, and/or deaths NOT immediately following their injuries.

MSC is going to be place a cross in the grass next to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Copperas Cove for every soldier we believe has been lost to us here at Fort Hood. That means we are going to place 600 crosses in the grass so every person who drives by can see that the cost of war (any war) is best understood in human terms because it is being paid for with human lives--those of the soldiers and those of their families. We would also like to remind those who pass by that there is nothing routine about the war in Iraq, nothing routine about any war.

MSC is inviting members of the public as well as members of the military to read names off our list of Fort Hood fatalities. We currently have a list of 432 (from the DoD). We are going to look for additional names here at Fort Hood.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in helping put up crosses (we will start placing the crosses on the grass at 11 am), reading the names (we will start the roll call at 1 or 2 pm), speaking about how you feel about America's understanding or support of the military (THIS IS NOT AN ANTI-WAR EVENT/NO ANTI-WAR/STOP THE WAR SPEECHES), or otherwise helping with the event, please contact Cynthia Thomas at 254.768.8300.

When are you doing this? I would be intrested in putting up the crosses if I was going to be in the area.

600 crosses is A LOT!! OMG we had no idea! But I refuse to budge on this b/c I think about what they represent, kwim? We are going to start putting them up in front of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Copperas Cove (Right on 190) at 11am and if we can get it done by 1, then we will read the names, or we will read the names by 2. If we can't get 50 people to volunteer to read the names, then we might not do that. We might just have the Pastor say a prayer and leave the crosses up for the afternoon. We are still working out all the details. It is a bit overwhelming when you think about how many soldiers we have lost. You can email me at carissapicard@gmail.com or call me at 406.498.2134 or call Cyndi at 254.768.8300.

I just want to say thank you to those who do end up helping with this. My husband's best friend from basic training was stationed at Ft. Hood and was killed in action by small arms fire probably about a year ago. He was 18 with a wife. If I were there I would help out in a heart beat. Thanks.

Because of politics. We had a member who wanted to politicize the event. She wanted this to be an anti-war memorial.

I will come out of the closet today. I do not believe that we should be in Iraq. I don't know what the solution is; I don't know that we should pull out quickly but I don't think staying there indefinitely is the answer either. I don't agree with out current policy. Personally, that is my position on Iraq. HOWEVER, as the President of MSC, I will not have MSC, as a whole, take a position on the war in Iraq.

I wanted this memorial to raise awareness about the fact that we ARE still at war and that this war is costing human lives. Period. A recent poll found that only 28 percent of Americans knew that nearly 4,000 service members have died in Iraq in the past five years. Most thought it was 3,000 or less.

I met with the council at the Trinity Lutheran Church yesterday about using their lawn for our memorial. I assured them that this was not an anti-war event. They were extremely supportive and they wanted to reach out to the chaplains on Fort Hood and to other churches in the area. They also encouraged me to get as much media as possible to cover the event.

The member who wanted to have this event and who secured the 600 crosses now refuses to participate in the memorial. She believes that the church is going to put a "positive spin" on the deaths of 600 soldiers and the 600 crosses. I disagree.

Nonetheless, I do not have the crosses and so the event is cancelled.

So much for raising awareness about the human cost of war and honoring our fallen soldiers.

don't get discouraged. there are tons of ways to raise awareness. it just so happens that becuase this is the anny of the start of the war that people are coming out of the woodwork to make their opinions known. we should concentrate on rasing everyday awareness, not just on a one time deal, kwim? i know that my family is painfully aware of the toll it has taken, just like everyone here on this board is as well. maybe a church lawn is just not the right place.....

And most of what we focus on is raising awareness about the needs of our families and servicemembers but lately I have been overwhelmed by the increasingly high level of public indifference to the hardships of our military community. Then I got a bee in my bonnet because it seems like the financial cost of the war gets more attention than the HUMAN cost, the wounded, the fatalities, the suicides, the divorces. It seems like those losses are "okay" because we have a volunteer force, but a human life is a human life and should be mourned by this country and why aren't americans thinking of ways to improve care and conditions for servicemembers and families? If we are going to be engaged in wars for long periods of time, this volunteer force needs help.