'Eyes Wide Open'

Through the course of events yesterday, Josh & I ended up in downtown Indy. While on our way walking to and from lunch, we passed this anti-war exhibit.
The exhibit, entitled 'Eyes Wide Open', was powerful and moving, featuring a pair of empty boots for every US soldier that has died in Iraq. The 1006 boots were set up in lines on the stairs leading to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. Each boot had a tag with a soldier's name, age, and state. The most moving part, for me, was seeing the ages of these men- kids! Many of them were my age or younger. They could have been classmates or friends. A woman with a microphone was reading off names, as visitors to the exhibit wandered among the rows of boots.
On a sidenote, as we first came to the exhibit, there were two Elvis impersonators milling at the front. That was random. Then a man came up to us and said "It's crazy isn't is? All the different symbolism. We've got this (He motioned to the boots) and this (He motioned to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, towering above us) and then them (He motioned to the Elvis guys) It doesn't seem to fit." And then he kinda shrugged his soldiers and walked away. It was really random. Yet profound. Think about it.