Johns Hopkins University

In last week's edition of the Balitimore Sun, columnist Michael Olesker speaks of Eyes Wide Open turning the grassy area "into a kind of spiritual graveyard..."

Of the shoes representing the Iraqis he writes:
"On one pair of shoes, a tag says, 'First niece of Rabah Hassan. Age. 2.' On another: '15th family member of Malik al-Kharbit family. Age unknown.' On a pair of little sneakers: 'Tabarek Talab. 4 months.' In another spot, there are a dozen pairs of shoes from the same family."

And, row after row after row, there are the American boots. In front of one pair, a man kneels on the grass with his arms around his little boy. Near another, a woman stands with her hands folded in prayer. A couple hold hands, looking slightly awe-struck. And still the roll call of the dead goes on.

John Dornheim, the chaplain at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center says,
"This is a holy place. The spirits of these people are with us, and we need to end this thing. If Iraq needs military support, it should be a U.N. force, not us. This is not about lack of support for our troops, it's about a government policy that put us in Iraq, and told us we were there to defend the U.S. And knew that a segment of the population would go along with that."

Today we just passed 1900 U.S. military casualties. The reading of the U.S. and Iraqi dead now take over 4 hours.