Mayor Lauren Poe faced a crowd gathered along the side of Eighth Avenue. His microphone buzzed, but his message was clear: In times of war, Gainesville advocates for peace.
About 100 people attended the unveiling of two historical markers Monday afternoon. The markers commemorate Memorial Mile, the mile-long stretch of road on Eighth Avenue where volunteers arrange thousands of tombs in remembrance of veterans who died in Afghanistan and Iraq every year.
“The cost of war is paid in the lives of the daughters and sons of our community,” Poe said.
Douglas Bernal, a member of Veterans For Peace, proposed the idea for Memorial Mile to City Commissioner Harvey Ward last June. Ward passed it along to the commission, where it was unanimously approved.
The stretch of road between Northwest 31st Drive and Northwest 23rd Street was chosen for Memorial Mile because of its proximity to the public parking and restrooms at the Loblolly Woods Nature Park, said Jim Zimmerman, a member of Gainesville Veterans for Peace. The road is straight and narrow, which allows for complete visibility of the 6,900 white polystyrene tombs lining the road.
Scott Camil, president of the VFP Gainesville chapter, said he hopes Memorial Mile will help remind the community of the great human loss that results from war.
“This weekend is about remembrance,” he said.
The Gainesville VFP chapter began putting up tombs along the road on Memorial Day 2007. Weather permitting, it is a tradition that has occurred almost every year since, he said.
The tombs contain the name, age, service unit and date of death of all those who have died serving in wars in Afghanistan or Iraq, he said. Some contain the names of soldiers from Gainesville. Volunteers spend around eight hours erecting the tombs, and another eight hours taking them down after Memorial Day.
Families come from all over the country to visit the tombs, said Paul Ortiz, a member of VFP and professor of history at UF. They are meant to memorialize the cost of war without glorifying it, he said.
Speaking from personal experience, Ortiz said he served in Central America in the 1980s with the U.S. Army’s seventh special forces group. After returning to the U. S., Ortiz said his feelings about Veteran’s Day had drastically changed.
“To hear politicians talk about how exciting war was — how it strengthens our country — that was horrifying. It was despicable.”
Members of the organization Veterans for Peace look at the newly unveiled Memorial Mile marker on NW 8th Avenue Monday. During Memorial Day weekend each year, the organization places tombstones marking the names of every U.S. service member who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
