Please click on the photo to see it full-sized.There are 4230 tiny flag-covered coffins in the room which has a floor about 10 feet square. The small (about 1.5" X 3/4" X 3/4") cardboard boxes each with a tiny flag on its top and sides are arranged in a rectangle 60 boxes across by 70 boxes down, a rectangle about 8 X 5 feet.
If the actual coffins for the 4230 American servicemen and servicewomen killed in Iraq were gathered together and arranged like this (assuming coffins 7' X 3') they would require a space 140 yards long and 70 yards wide, half again as long as a football field.
The tiny coffins are part of a War Memorial created by Rock Island, Illinois artist Jay Strickland, entitled "Arrival at Dover." (Dover, Maryland is the place where most of the flag-draped coffins arrived back in the United States from Iraq.) The walls of the room are covered floor to ceiling with a listing of all the 4230 service people. With each name there is a brief description of how that individual died, whether in combat or on duty, from injuries sustained from IED’s or while being treated in medical facilities for their injuries.
The memorial is currently on display at the Davenport Unitarian Church. It can be viewed Wednesday, Jan. 28 from 5pm - 8pm or Sunday Feb 1 from 1pm - 5pm.
