Crosses line Grand Circus Park in Detroit, memorializing fallen soldiers
(CBS DETROIT) - Crosses could be seen in Grand Circus Park in Downtown Detroit this Memorial Day, memorializing the lives lost in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
On each cross, the names and titles of soldiers from all around the state of Michigan killed in the line of duty.
"We have about 260 people represented here," says Stephen Morehouse, a member of Veterans for Peace, the group who organized this memorial.
A moment of silence took place, something recognized by other branches of Veterans for Peace around the country.
"We don't feel that war is the answer to everything and we're trying to get people to realize that, you know. These people died, but why did they die? And hope somehow that will affect national policy on militarism," says Michael Muha, a Vietnam veteran and the treasurer of Veterans for Peace Chapter 93.
It was on a trip three years ago when Muha says he and a fellow veteran went back to Vietnam and met with a Vietcong soldier. He calls it a moving experience, which has led to many of the thoughts he shares today, reflecting on what Memorial Day is about.
"Knowing that we're doing something, because you know, I could take off and go to a beach for Memorial Day or whatever, but this way I'm kind of giving up that to be able to come out here and do something to get people to think about veterans," Muha says.