Tally of war deaths shows up next door to Duluth recruiting station

[Oreo]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5772444.html

An Army recruitment office in Duluth said a sign next door tallying the Iraq war's casualties and duration was unwelcome.
Larry Oakes, Star Tribune

DULUTH - A large sign went up Monday in the storefront next to the U.S. Army recruiting station in downtown Duluth.

What it says and how its message was received by the "Be-All-You-Can-Be" folks next door may well make it a sign of the times. "Iraq," it says. "Remember the Fallen Heroes." Below, in black numbers changed daily, is a tally of the dead and wounded U.S. soldiers and the number of days the conflict has gone on.

It took only one day for Staff Sgt. Gary Capan from the recruiting office to walk over and politely ask Scott Cameron to take the sign down. Cameron is a volunteer on the Steve-Kelley-for-governor campaign, which opened its northern Minnesota office next to the recruiting station last week. Although the sign was Cameron's idea, Kelley, a DFL state senator from Hopkins, approved of displaying it in the window. Cameron, a disabled and decorated Vietnam veteran, previously had the sign in his front yard. There, people stopped and left flowers or just thanked him, he said.

Capan wasn't thankful. According to Cameron, Capan explained that the tally was disturbing to some of the six recruiters working for him. Cameron said that Capan also expressed concern about the chilling effect the sign might have on potential recruits. But in an interview Thursday, Capan said he's really not worried about that.

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