> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Arlington West helps homefront
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/arlington-west-helps-homefront-editor/
- Published: 2007-06-14T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T01:07:55.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Pier, #archive-import

*By Susan J. Hartley Santa Monica*

As a resident of Santa Monica and a volunteer with Veterans for Peace, I feel compelled to respond to Bill Bauer’s mischaracterization that Arlington West “exploits the dead.” (“Arlington West exploits the dead,” May 31) The Arlington West Memorial at Santa Monica Beach is put up every Sunday, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day just north of the Santa Monica Pier by the Los Angeles Chapter of Veterans for Peace. We’ve been doing this since February 2004.

As posted at the Memorial: Welcome. This Memorial is dedicated to the men and women of our military who have made the greatest sacrifice. And also to those who live on with their wounds. Feel free to wander through the Memorial. Our mission is: To honor the fallen and wounded. To acknowledge the human cost of war. To provide a place to grieve. To encourage dialogue among citizens with varied points of view. To educate the public about the needs of those returning from war.

A moving video of the memorial can be found on YouTube, entitled “Arlington West, April 1, 2007.” The names, messages, pictures and personal effects on the crosses have been left by friends and family members of the fallen. We laminate their mementos and put them up every Sunday, weather permitting. There are now over 1,000 mementos. The flag-draped coffins symbolize the fallen that week. This week, we had 30 coffins.

The memorial was flooded with mourners (Memorial Day) Weekend. Many brought us to tears. One young woman memorialized 16 fallen members of her unit. Another young man found his sergeant had been killed while memorializing other members of his unit, many killed on the same day. A beautiful family from La Puente came to memorialize their 21-year-old son and brother killed last November. Two young women from Boston came to memorialize their friend. Another came to memorialize her cousin killed a week ago. Several mothers and fathers came to memorialize their children.

What can one say to them? They seem to take some consolation in the existence of the memorial and the fact that their loved one will live on through their mementos at the memorial. For the military men and women, many just back from Iraq and scheduled to go back, we offer them information on their rights and services available to them. We listen to their frustrations about the VA not helping them. We shake their hands and hug them, telling them we hope they won’t have to go back and we hope they will be safe.

This weekend, we memorialized 3,452 fallen. Every Sunday evening, we take down the crosses and wonder how many more there will be next weekend. Every week, I am struck by the fact that they are all just kids to me and I am saddened by the loss of so much potential. I can’t imagine the magnitude of the grief their family and friends feel. The beach has become hallowed ground.

The Arlington West Memorial has toured the country, visiting many college campuses. It will be back at Santa Monica Beach next Sunday, and the next...

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 14, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)