As part of the cross project to bring awareness to the 19,000 daily children’s deaths, our team placed thousands of small crosses on Chapman Hill. While placing these fragile wooden crosses in the rocky terrain, my thoughts went back to my years as a late teenager. I would drive to Point Loma (San Diego) and wander through the acres and acres of white crosses. The crosses marked the graves of World War II soldiers who gave their all for our country. Many of these soldiers were no older than I was, and it made me contemplate the “whys” of death, the sadness, the “what if” and how could all these deaths could be prevented.
Just as the sight of rows and rows of white crosses was a visual reminder of death of soldiers in Point Loma, our small temporary crosses on Chapman Hill were to be a visual reminder of children that die an excruciating death of starvation.
I’m glad the crosses on Point Loma are still there and bewildered that someone would remove the crosses on Chapman Hill. My father would say that “people are just no damn good.” Others say it is just another sign of our self-indulgent society. Evangelists may point to the Book of Revelation as another sign of the end times. No matter, it’s the 19,000 children who will die today that really counts.
Gene Merrill
Bayfield
