Outrageous Idea

I have this idea I would like to throw out. It is a seriously outrageous idea on many levels, but we have to start somewhere.

I would like to propose that we make flag draped coffins for every member of the US Military who has died in Iraq and have a funeral procession from Dover Air Force Base where photographs of incoming coffins are not allowed to be taken to the White House where incoming coffins are not given recognition.

The distance is 100 miles.

I don’t know exactly how long it would take to walk that distance, and it might be more (we will not be using interstates) but the longer the better. As I write this we have 2332 dead members of the military in Iraq. No one knows how many Iraqi’s.

That is a lot of coffins. There will be more.

These coffins are coming out of Iraq everyday. We are not allowed to see them. We need to make them visible. We need to make concrete the abstract.

If we put out a call to every national organization opposed to this war that we want each state to make one flag draped coffin and provide at least four pall bearers for each military death in their state (two more per coffin would be good so people can take breaks) would they and could they do it?

I have found basic pine boxes for $39.95 (nice to know you are eligable for a discount when you die.) A caskett company if contacted soon could make us 2500 or so boxes cheaper because we want something a lot lighter and we will be buying in quantity.

Flags could also be negotiated.


If you think about it, if the coffins are six feet long and if by then there are 2400 dead, which at this point is an underestimate….

The Funeral Procession would stretch over 9 miles if you consider a single file and twenty feet separating the first casket’s front from the next casket’s front.

The Visual impact in and of itself would be riveting.

The details are grueling.

Coffins would need to be built. Permits to March would need to be acquired and support people would need to be in place to supply food, medical care and legal services. We would need press people. We will need a myriad of other things.

If we can end up in DC on the Mall on Sunday September 10 then on the following Monday September 11 we can do the National Strike.

And we can center it's focus on DC.