Community Corner

No More Crosses For Lafayette's "Cross Hill"

The small group of people behind the hillside memorial to service people killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan say no more crosses will be added to the site.

Bay City News Service

The last white cross was hammered into the hillside memorial in Lafayette this week, organizers of the controversial site said.

The memorial, erected in 2006 and with a cross for every U.S. military casualty since the nation entered Iraq in 2003, is "too hard to keep track of," according to project organizer Baika Pratt.

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The recent deaths of 30 Navy SEALs and air crew killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan last weekend, highlight the struggle organizers have in keeping pace with the war's death toll.

Approximately 4,000 crosses, Stars of David and Islamic crescents blanket the hillside. Jeff Heaton, who started the memorial, said it has become difficult for the dozen active volunteers to maintain them.

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Volunteers go out once a month to maintain the memorial by trimming grass and repairing and painting fading crosses.

The memorial began with 300 crosses and a sign that read: "In Memory of 2,839 U.S. Troops Killed In Iraq." The sign now reads, "In Memory Of Our Troops," with the current death toll from the Department of Defense.

Heaton said he often sees people visiting the memorial, some of whom are relatives of fallen soldiers.

"It's more for their personal need to find closure," Heaton said. "I'm always finding more crosses being decorated."

The number of American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan stands at 6,198, according to the Department of Defense.

"The war has gone on so long, it's crazy," Heaton said. "The crosses represent where we went wrong to begin with."

"We think a statement is still being made," Pratt said. "The statement is there are consequences for actions."

The memorial across from the Lafayette BART station on Deer Hill Road generally has been supported by the Lafayette community despite early controversy and has seen the number of early opponents fade, Heaton said.

"It's a memorial and will always be a memorial," Pratt said.

Cross Hill organizers said they hope that one day there will be an official memorial for those lost in Iraq and Afghanistan similar to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"There's no Iraq memorial like there's a Vietnam memorial," Heaton said. "(The hill) plays an important function."


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