Statement of Purpose:

Unlike a lot of the designs on this site, this memorial is not about raking politicians over the coals. I don't want to vent anger at who we think is responsible right now. I want to focus on our soldiers. We're supposed to be memorializing them, aren't we?

Almost 1,500 soldiers are dead, and that number's going to go up. Let's really think about those men and women who aren't coming back. Each of these people is an individual. Think!

This memorial consists of a viewing platform made of marble (rising from the southwest corner of the Ellipse), two streams of water symbolizing the two major rivers of Iraq (Tigris and Euphrates) will flow towards the platform from the NE, and finally a sea of trees will be planted around the platform (a tree for each dead soldier). Every March 23rd, these trees will be hacked down to a height of about 3-4 feet.

Visitors will ascend the platform and look out over these stumps, lives cut short.