The floor was covered with pairs of black military boots, arranged in ranks as soldiers would stand at attention. One could easily imagine it to be a parade ground with young Americans standing proudly, wearing crisp uniforms with eager faces. The only difference is that each pair of boots was empty – the soldier that would fill them having been killed in the Iraq war. In a war that is costing the United States over $1billion every day, little recognition is given to those that have lost their lives in the conflict. American casualties are no longer given media coverage as their bodies are returned to the U.S., and no official attempt is made to keep track of the hundreds of Iraqis that die every week.

“Eyes Wide Open,” a traveling exhibition from Chicago, stopped at the Depot in downtown Greensboro Jan. 23-25. Organized by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the exhibit attempts to counter this general ambivalence by highlighting the human cost of the Iraq war. The AFSC is a Quaker institution that carries out social justice and peace programs throughout the world.

“This exhibit is a memorial to those who have fallen and a witness to our belief that no war can justify its human cost,” said AFSC General Secretary Mary Ellen McNish.

When the exhibit opened in January ’04, it included a collection of 504 pairs of combat boots, each one complete with the name of an American soldier killed during the war. Today, the number of pairs has risen to almost 1,400, with more being added every day as the list of casualties increases.

Many boots are decorated with photographs and flowers, left by people who have come to grieve their lost ones. While the listed ages range up to people in their 40s, most are in their early 20s – some are only 18 and 19.

“(This exhibit) makes things so much more tangible,” said first-year Colette Cosner, who has been working with the AFSC for several years. She said many people have been hurt by the war, but most are unrecognized. “These memorials are not just for soldiers, they are for everyone who has been affected.”

A wall of remembrance, listing the Iraqi civilians who have been killed, was included in the exhibition. The names on the wall sometimes included entire families, from nine-month-old infants to grandparents. Reports vary on the number of Iraqis killed because of the war; some as few as 14,000, others over 100,000. Civilian shoes representing these Iraqi men, women and children, lined the walls.

“Eyes Wide Open” has traveled across the country, beginning in Chicago and stopping at New York, Boston, Atlanta, and many other cities on its way to Greensboro – the only stop in North Carolina. In the coming months it will head west, traveling through Texas and California before finishing in Seattle on the second anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.

“There is a large peace community in this area of Quakers and other peace activists,” says Ann Lennon, Orita Program Director for the AFSC. “It’s important that we reach out and help support this community.”

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of the exhibit is the fact that it continues to grow. Troops are constantly being shipped out to the war, and bodies are being flown back in flag-draped coffins. It is impossible to say how high the human cost of the war will grow. For now, it will be recorded by another pair of boots in the exhibit, another number added to the board.

“Today we will undoubtedly add another boot,” said Lennon. “At least one.