Car carries a special message

By LINDA McALPINE

LA CRESCENT, Minn. - Even though her grease pencil-stained hand cramped with the cold, Lys Swift knew she simply couldn’t stop writing.

On a chilly afternoon two weeks ago, Swift set out to write the name of each and every coalition soldier who had been killed in the Iraq war and the date of death on her teal Geo Prism.

"I was freezing and I wanted to stop and go inside the house and warm up, but then I remembered that they don’t have that luxury anymore and I just kept writing," she said in a quiet voice of that day in the driveway of the La Crescent home she shares with her husband, Paul, and their two children.

Her car is covered in small black letters and numbers.

In tidy lines, they march across its hood, descend around both side panels and darken the trunk.

"According to the Department of Defense Web site, at least 1,241 coalition forces have died as of Oct. 16," said Swift, who has made it a habit to check the list daily.

Along with the abbreviations of familiar American military titles are those that designate forces from coalition countries like England and Italy. The roof of the car, she said, has been reserved for the names of the civilian dead.

"I have looked at a list of Iraqi war dead, but only 3,500 or so of the thousands who have died have been identified, so I put the names of people working for the coalition, like contractors who’ve been killed, on the roof," Swift explained.

Because the names and death dates are printed small, it takes more than a cursory glance at Swift’s car to realize what is being seen - which was her intention.

"I didn’t want this to be a big moving memorial that says ‘look at me,’" she said. "I wanted people to have to take a second and a third look and then think about it."

So far, the reactions the car has gotten have been overwhelming, Swift said.

"When I’ve been driving on the interstate, I’ve had people keep pace with me so they can read it," she said.

"Sometimes I’ll find someone waiting for me like in the grocery store parking lot to ask me about my car and what it means," she added. "But everyone I’ve talked to has been very, very positive."

Swift and her husband were both in the military during the first Iraq war, and their families also have a proud heritage of serving in the armed forces.

"I really didn’t do this to make a political statement. We support our troops," she said. "They did their job 100 percent and they gave 100 percent."

"It’s like hearing how many died in the Vietnam War. It doesn’t hit home until you’ve seen all those names carved in the memorial wall," she continued.

The only spots of color amid the black lists are two yellow ribbon decals that declare "Support our Troops," and the the words "How Many More ..." that appear on the hood and trunk in red.

Swift said she is heartsick at the thought that she might run out of room on her car before the casualties end and the military action comes to a permanent solution in Iraq.

Until then, sadly, she will keep her grease pencil nearby.

Linda McAlpine can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or lmcalpine@lacrossetribune.com

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/10/22/news/01car.txt