Every year, the democrats at my college do a tribute to the soldiers who fought and died in the war in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. They've done this since the war began.

In an open field in the middle of campus, they plant a small flag for every single soldier who died, and then, facing that field, each soldier's name, age, and rank are read off. Every single one. The tribute goes on as long as it needs to to read every name. The readers go in shifts, because the tribute now takes over a week to finish.

These are just some photos of the field I snapped with my cell phone. If I can find it, I might take my digital camera later this week to get better photos.

According to the tribute, we're up to 5,974 troops who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.











Here's the stand where they're reading. They have a podium and two speakers so they can be heard across the field.





I'm not a particularly patriotic person but each time they do this I find it very moving. I also find it incredibly distressing how much the number of flags has grown each year.

Just something I wanted to share.