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Memorials to the fallen in Iraq war are running out of space for names |
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By Kelly McCormack
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Posted: 05/10/07 08:20 PM [ET] |
Two memorials honoring American soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan have not recently been updated and are close to being completely full.
The “Honoring the Fallen” wall, located in the Rayburn Office Building at the horseshoe entrance, bears the names of 3,300 casualties. But the wall will only hold 3,500 names altogether.
And a memorial outside of Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s (D-Ill.) office is also running short on space.
The House Administration Committee has oversight of the Honoring the Fallen memorial, but since the end of November no new names have been added.
According to Defense Department statistics, there have been close to 500 deaths in Iraq since December, and more than 3,700 deaths in both conflicts altogether.
GOP staffers with the committee have offered their help in getting the memorial updated, a committee staffer told The Hill. The panel has to follow certain guidelines to obtain the names and put them on the memorial, which is done through the graphics department.
Dan Beard, chief administrative officer of the House, said that the wall has not been updated for a number of reasons.
Originally, Beard said, the House Administration Committee thought about reformatting the wall by shrinking the size of the type used for each soldier’s name. However, after meeting again, the committee determined that it would be too expensive — around $10,000 — and decided to add the new names on another wall, the East wall.
“It’s a problem,” Beard said. “We’re running out of space. We’re looking at various options.”
As for the update, Beard continued: “We usually are two to three months behind because we want to be very accurate with the names that are up there.”
In addition, Beard said, the change in leadership and the passing of former chairwoman Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.) has impacted the memorial. He said that the committee has completed a “mockup” of the changes and would be reformatting the memorial in the next month to fit more names.
“It’s a wonderful monument,” Beard said. “We’ve had wonderful response to it [from visitors].”
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that the memorial gives passersby the opportunity to remember those who have died defending the U.S.
“It speaks volumes that the majority has not shown proper respect to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines we’ve lost in the war on terror since November by including their names on this memorial,” Boehner said. “Their sacrifices are no less worthy simply because one party prevailed in an election.”
The San Jose Mercury News first reported the story of the diminishing space. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who sits on the House Administration Committee, told the paper recently that the wall is “just another example of how pathetically unprepared and unrealistic the supporters of this war have been.”
When asked about Lofgren’s comment, one GOP aide said, “That is a shameful example of opportunistic partisanship. As a member of the Committee on House Administration, who is responsible for the wall, she should better know the history of the House’s memorial and respect this small measure by which the House honors the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.”
Emanuel’s memorial is a series of large posters with names of fallen soldiers sitting on easels outside his Rayburn office. But it is also getting full.
“We don’t have a lot of room,” said Kathleen Connery, a spokeswoman for Emanuel. “We have the entire hallway from our door to our neighbor’s door and from our door to our other neighbor’s door.”
Connery said that the memorial was created in 2004 to honor American soldiers. The posters chronicle the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan through a portion of 2006. Posters through the end of last year have been completed and the “newest batch” is at the printer. The memorial is updated as quickly as the names come in.
Connery noted that the office will continue to print the posters and will “come up with a solution” if it runs out of space.
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