Students will spend May 1 publicly reading the names of fallen soldiers

Seton Hill students, inspired by a class in Public Discourse, have designed a temporary memorial to the 2,300 plus American soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, which they will unveil on May 1.

“We are not making a statement for or against the war,” says senior Jeremy Burkett, one of the three student leaders for the project. “We spent a semester discussing what it meant to live your principles, and we realized that we all believed that the U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have made an honorable commitment to living their principles by serving their country. We decided to do something public to memorialize them.”

When: Monday, May 1, 2006, opening ceremony at 10 a.m., reading of names throughout the day

Where: Seton Hill University, lawn in front of the Katherine Mabis McKenna Center

What: Students will read the names of U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and place a “brick” made of paper for each soldier in a temporary wall. At the end of the presentation (approximately 5:30 p.m.) Taps will be played in the Soldiers' honor. The list of names will be taken from www.militarycity.com.