Eyes Wide Open:

The Human Cost of the Iraq War

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Eyes Wide Open, the American Friends Service Committee’s widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military death in Iraq and a memorial to Iraqi civilian deaths.

Since 1917, the American Friends Service Committee has championed the dignity and worth of every individual, the sanctity of human life and humanity's collective responsibility to promote peace. For almost 90 years of work in war zones on four continents, we have gained an intimate knowledge of the costs and horrors of war.

When this exhibit was unveiled by our Chicago office in January 2004, there were 504 pairs of boots symbolizing the lost lives of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. With each passing week, each stop in a new city, more pairs of boots are added to represent the newly fallen. Alongside the boots stands Dreama and Nightmares, a memorial to the more than 500,000 Iraqi civilians who have died since the war began.

As the exhibit makes its appearances across the country, families and friends come to grieve for lost loved ones and strangers honor those who gave their lives to a cause far from home.

At each stop, person after person leaves notes of commemoration, photographs of lost soldiers, identification tags, flowers, and American flags to accompany the boots on their journey.

Although a majority of Americans now believe this war is a tragic misadventure, the human cost of the Iraq War continues to grow each day.

Read more: afsc.org/eyes/