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Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son died in Iraq, sits behind rows of soldiers’ boots at t

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Fernando Suarez del Solar spoke at the memorial exhibit about his 20-year-old dead son, who left

Fernando Suarez del Solar points to his dead son’s dirty combat boots and recalls the life of the young soldier, who died at age 20 two years ago. His only son, Jesus, wanted to be a police officer, liked to rough house with his dad, and watched “The Simpsons” obsessively while growing up in his home in Escondido, Calif.

To many, he’d seem like an “ordinary boy,” Suarez del Solar said, but “for me, he was the best.”

Lance Corporal Jesus Suarez del Solar of the U.S. Marine Corps was one of first casualties of the war in Iraq, and his empty boots stood among hundreds of others put on display at the Westwood United Methodist Church Saturday to commemorate the second anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit, coordinated by the pacifist Quaker organization American Friends Service Committee, has been featured in nearly 50 cities across the nation, and displayed in landmark locations like New York City’s Central Park.

The exhibit was first unveiled in January 2004 in Chicago with a display of 504 boots – the number of U.S. soldiers who had died in Iraq at the time. The exhibit grows with the number of casualties and currently includes over 1,500 combat boots. The exhibit also features a wall of civilian shoes to symbolize fallen Iraqi civilians since the war’s onset. While an exact number has not been recorded, the number ranges from 17,000 to nearly 19,500, according to the Web site www.iraqbodycount.net.

Due to the rainfall Saturday, the exhibit was moved from its scheduled outdoor location at the Westwood Federal Building to an indoor church auditorium on Wilshire Boulevard, about two miles from the UCLA campus. All of the 1,500 boots were not displayed due to space constraints, the event’s organizers said.

Though only about 200 boots were displayed Saturday, the impact of the exhibit was apparent on the many who weaved through the maze of dirty footwear, adorned by pictures, prayers, flowers and flags. Some boots, off of which hung identification tags, are donated by the families of dead soldiers, but most are purchased from military surplus stores.

Sgt. Rudy Reyes, a marine from the First Reconnaissance Battalion, was among the visitors to the exhibit last weekend. Picking up a pair of boots and reading the tag, he explained to another attendee what the shoes were meant to symbolize. Reyes had returned from Iraq in October 2004.

“I’m looking for my buddy,” he was overheard saying. He later explained that he was looking for the pair of boots representing First Sgt. Edward Smith, who had been a role model to Reyes. Smith was 38 when he died from wounds incurred from mortar fire in central Iraq a few weeks after the war began.

While coordinators said the exhibit aims to illustrate the human cost of war, the day’s events attracted a diversity of opinions. There were committee officials who believed U.S. troops should pull out from Iraq immediately, countered by former soldiers who said civil war might ensue. Meanwhile, local residents questioned whether the event’s anti-war sentiment could be justified when the recent Iraqi elections seemed to be a success.

Past exhibitions have also caused tension among family members of dead soldiers, uncomfortable with their loved ones being on display, according to several community newspapers.

But, Suarez del Solar uses the exhibit as an opportunity to keep his son’s memory alive. He has spoken at several “Eyes Wide Open” exhibits and gathered support for his own charity organization, which collects medical supplies for Iraqi children and provides psychological services for Chicano families that have loved ones serving in Iraq.

His family immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1997. After his son’s death, he quit his job at a 7-11 convenience store to speak out on behalf of Jesus. Jesus is survived by his wife and 3-year-old son, Erik. Jesus was deployed when Erik was a month old.

Suarez del Solar said he grieves through the work he does but that Jesus’ mother and three sisters grieve differently.

“My wife began to cry. Two years later, my wife continues to cry,” he said Saturday, to a crowd of less than a 100 seated in front of the boots display.

Suarez del Solar has vehemently spoken out against the war and the Bush administration in the last two years.

He had reportedly been kicked out of the Republican National Convention this summer for holding a sign that read, “Bush Lies, My son dies.”

He also traveled to Iraq twice since the death of Jesus.

The first time, he placed a cross where his son had reportedly died stepping on U.S. military cluster bomblet in Southern Baghdad. Then he visited a children’s hospital and watched two children die of malnutrition in his arms, he said as his eyes filled with tears and his thick-accented speech broke with emotion.

The second time, he went back to the same hospital with $600,000 worth of medical supplies collected through donations, he said, adding that he is following his son’s life example.

“My son shows me a beautiful example for love,” he said. “He put his life on the (line) for other people.”

In addition to Suarez del Solar, a panel of speakers relayed their experiences with the war.

Aidan Delgado, a Florida college student who was stationed in the Abu Ghraib prison and later obtained conscientious objector status, said he owes his fellow soldiers for their sacrifices.

“I’m wearing my combat boots today. ... I’m still walking in them,” he said.

Delgado later said attending the event was the last thing he wanted to do on the war’s anniversary.

After speaking about his experiences he said, “I hate doing this all the time and (reopening) myself to it all the time ... but, I have to.”

Though he did not agree with all of the speakers at the event, Reyes said he believed the exhibit was constructive.

Still, he believes education is the only way to improve the situation in Iraq.

A majority of the American people don’t realize the day-to-day struggle of the average Iraqi civilian, many of whom live in poverty conditions according to U.S. standards, he said.

There are “not a whole lot of facts” available about Iraq, Reyes said, making it difficult for Americans to fully grasp the situation.

The day ended with politicians, local actresses and musicians who expressed frustration over the war through art.

As somber music played in the background and the crowd slowly dispersed, the sun cracked through the day’s rain clouds and seeped into the church auditorium. Soldiers, veterans, students and organizers hovered over the combat boots and civilian shoes, now covered in a blanket of sunshine.

Ryan Enos, a UCLA graduate student in political science who volunteered to help with the exhibit, said he wished more people from the UCLA community had attended the event.

Enos has a brother currently serving in Iraq. He had talked to him Saturday, but the fact that the day was the war’s anniversary hadn’t come up in the conversation.

“I have better things to talk to him about,” he said.