Three Thousand and Counting

This morning Kate and I met up with an online scrapbooking friend of mine that just happens to live here in Great Falls named Jen. We went to the Paris Gibson Square Museum while Nick rode with his Dad, uncle, and grandfather to Helena for a doctor's appointment. The museum was free, which is good because there really wasn't a whole lot to it. The only thing in my opinion worth seeing was the exhibit titled Three Thousand and Counting.

From the museum website(all photos are mine):To commemorate the sacrifices made by U.S. troops in Iraq, Great Falls artist Jean L. Price has created an ongoing memorial installation at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art. Each American soldier who has lost his or her life in the war is represented by a dog tag created out of aluminum tooling foil that includes name, rank and age. Montana soldiers who have fallen are represented with copper and brass. As more casualties occur, the sculpture grows. In this heartbreakingly beautiful tribute, Price provides the viewer with a visual display of the human cost of war.

The Square re-dedicated the installation (originally entitled Two Thousand and Counting) on Memorial Day, May 28, 2007; at which time, Jean expanded and enlarged the installation to reflect the growing toll of war on our nation's servicemen and women.

It really was a sight to behold. Seeing so many silver tags hanging in one place, knowing that each one represented a soldier who has given their life in Iraq, it was quite touching. Three thousand is a fairly decent sized number, but having it represented in a physical form gives you a much deeper understanding of just how many lives that really is. I just hope that the artist doesn't have to add any more tags to the display.