I was in Los Angeles for a wedding, just passing an afternoon with my parents, trekking from one overrun tourist spot to another. But in Santa Monica, right next to a pier crammed with tourists, souvenirs and awful buskers, there was a field of crosses and flag-draped coffins laid out in neat rows that caught my attention. The crosses (joined by crescents and Stars of David) were part of a project called Arlington West, a memorial and protest installation put into place from scratch every weekend by Veterans For Peace.

I've been to both Arlington National Cemetery and the American Cemetery in Normandy. As in both of these places, I was struck here by the beautiful setting and long rows of grave markers in perfect uniform rows. This gave you a sense of the immense loss as a whole, while at the same time asking you to look closely at each marker and think of the individual human beings lost.

Arlington West, however, isn't a separate hallowed place but lays right smack in the middle of tourism, sun, and happy days out with the folks. It dares you to ignore that while most of us go on with our lives there are thousands on both sides of this conflict that have been taken too soon.
 
I walked with others up and down the rows where many of the crosses were decorated by family members and the volunteers who set the memorial up. This one, marked "Unknown Soldier," really grabbed me in particular. The handwritten notes attached to it were addressed to no one and everyone. To me, they spoke of the tragedy of this war and war in the broadest sense. But I think whether or not you agree with Veterans for Peace's anti-war stance, the memorial is cause to reflect on the personal human toll of war and the reasons we go to war. Hopefully, a little of that came through in this photo.