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Mar 24, 2008 10:02 pm US/Central
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War Supporters, Protesters Mourn 4,000 Soldiers
The Iraq War has been measured in numbers most never imagined – five years, hundreds of billions of dollars, and now, 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports that number is being mourned by those both for and against the war.
From churches to the White House to the campaign trail the number of American casualties is a topic of conversation.
On a wall at St. James Episcopal Church, 65 E. Huron, are hung 4,000 black squares, each inscribed with the name of a fallen soldier.
An anti-war group gathered at Chicago's Episcopal Cathedral with the blessing and support of its new Bishop Jeffrey Lee.
"We are surrounded by an artistic witness to the grief which is a true marker to the cost of this war," Lee said.
President George W. Bush, in an address Monday, said, "I will vow so long as I'm president to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain, that, in fact, there's a, you know, a outcome that will merit the sacrifice that civilian and military alike have made."
Monday night, the parents of one who made that sacrifice say Kevin Landeck was like most of those serving in Iraq. He believed in what he was doing.
"They'll never ever understand what families are going through," Rich Landeck said.
"He was proud to be over there, he was proud to be serving his country," Vicki Landeck added.
Monday night's is the second Chicago church protest in two days, the latest just a block away from Holy Name Cathedral, where Eastern Sunday mass was disrupted by anti-war protestors who splashed red liquid on themselves and others.
"I think we're at the place where the war is becoming very frustrating to many in our society and that we're going to see escalating actions of non-violence because this war has gone on for too long," said Michael McConnell of the American Friends Service Committee.
As the debate continues and perhaps intensifies as the race for the White House continues, the names behind those numbers will remain on display at St. James Cathedral.