This Memorial Day weekend, Gainesville motorists might notice something a little different about Eighth Avenue.
At 4 a.m. Saturday, 4,569 tombstones - one for each American soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan - will begin to be placed along the road at its intersection with 34th Street and continue east for a mile.
Scott Camil, who received two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam, is also founder of the Gainesville chapter of Veterans for Peace, the organization that will be staging the event.
Camil said he believes the upcoming event, called Memorial Mile, will be "a very graphic display of how many people have actually died in these two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
In observance of Memorial Day, there will be veterans and volunteers on site 24 hours a day until sundown Monday, said Camil. The group, which seeks to raise awareness of the ever-growing number of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, also stages weekly demonstrations on Tuesday afternoons.
