Statement of Purpose:

What would it be like to be a soldier in Iraq? This memorial is an attempt to convey the soldiers' experience to the public. This memorial is a giant game board where visitors can learn about the perils that our soldiers faced as they step on game spaces. Engraved on each space (made of marble) will be the hazards and disappointments of the Iraq conflict, including:

Your tour gets extended for the second time
Your tour gets extended for the third time
Your best friend is critically injured by an IED
Two in your squad die in a mortar attack
The school you rebuilt is destroyed by insurgents
You're wounded by gunmen firing from a mosque
Iraqi mourners blame you for not stopping a suicide bomber
Your unarmored Humvee is destroyed by a roadside bomb
You loose your civilian job back home after being redeployed
Your squad's translator is murdered
You miss your first child's birth
One day, the Iraqi children you thought were friendly spit on you
And on…and on…

Dotting the game board will be a few of the notable sights from the war zone: Imam Ali Mosque, the pulled-down Saddam statue, etc… all made of white marble, mimicking the look of the game board of the popular game "Life."