Army Man Project

2,464 American Soldiers and 38,059 Iraq Civilians Dead

"The job of a citizen is to keep your mouth open." — Gunter Grass.

DL members are participating in the Army Men Project organized by Mouths Wide Open. We will be spreading little green, khaki and grey, toy army men around from Memorial Day till Veterans Day. (You can see one here on the top right of the Library sign.) Everyday reminders of the ongoing horrors of the war in Iraq and to serve as tools to foster dialogue, action and resistance to the war. Here in the United States we’re encouraged to forget about the war, to go on with our lives, to “go shopping.” But what if everywhere people went there were little plastic Army Men nudging them to remember that we’re waging war? At Home Depot, on the gas pump, in the 7-11, at the post office, on the hood of the car, in the public restroom, in the newspaper box, at the ATM, at the movie theatre, in the produce section of the grocery store … in Hyde Park, Northside, Forest Park, Mason, Loveland, Finneytown, Newport, Downtown and your neighborhood.

The war is not going away. We want people to realize that by doing nothing they contribute to a war that has cost the lives of almost 2,464 American soldiers and many, many thousands of Iraqi civilians (conservative estimates put the Iraqi civilian death toll, as of May 29, 2006 at 38,059. Source: iraqbodycount.net).

Join the Army Men Project – spread the plastic everywhere! If you would like to help place the men visit DL any Tuesday till Veterans Day and pick up a batch.
We plan on placing one toy soldier for each soldier lost in the war.
So far we have placed 125 soldiers around Cincinnati.

If you’ve come upon one of these little plastic soldiers and have something to say about it, please join the dialogue – email us at dlcinciATgmail.com or Mouths Wide Open at speakATmouthswideopen.org.

(Replace the AT in the email addresses above with an @ sign.)