Photo: Boots represent fallen soldiers on Pacifica beach

On the gloomy, rainy afternoon of September 21, officially the United Nations International Day of Peace, some 100 peace-loving Pacificans gathered on Pacifica State Beach in Linda Mar to honor the victims of the Iraq war: American troops and Iraqi civilians. The war memorial observance took place in the midst of an American Friends Service Committee installation known as Eyes Wide Open: hundreds of pairs of combat boots representing fallen soldiers.

Pacifica Peace People (PPP) invited Pacifica Military Moms, Gold Star Mothers, and Veterans for Peace to join them in reading the names of the war dead, punctuating the reading of each name by striking a Tibetan prayer bell. These somber notes rang out across the beach, as several surfers and passersby stopped to witness the ceremony.

PPP holds monthly peace vigils at Highway 1 and Linda Mar, counsels students and parents about alternatives to military service, and conducts educational events in the community. PPP also hopes to persuade City Council to declare Pacifica a "City for Peace," joining 300 other American cities that have made this declaration. The crux of the issue is the Iraq war’s negative fiscal impact on local spending programs.

Story from Pacifica Riptide.  For more photos, see their stories here , here, and here.