Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Toy Soldiers
This story is from a column by a local Santa Rosa columinist:
At Santa Rosa High, seasoned history teacher John Cortopassi devised a way to convey to students something about the reality and human cost of war.

He started the school year by buying 2,613 tan-colored toy soldiers and scattering them, several deep, across a table. That was one figure for each American GI killed in Iraq from that August day back to the day in 2003 that President Bush declared the mission accomplished.

Every subsequent Monday, Cortopassi has added green soldiers to the display, one for each American killed in Iraq during the previous week.

"I added seven this morning," he said Monday. That brings to 131 the number of soldiers he's lain to rest in less than two months.

Some of his students pick up or fidget with the toy soldiers, others consider them too hallowed to touch.
It's too bad the real thing isn't made of indestructible plastic.

On another note, can you imagine a teacher doing this in, oh say, Oklahoma? I love living here.
Written at 8:57 AM by Greyhair.
0 comments