The Coverup: National and Local !

On March 20, the local Veterans for Peace dedicated a two-piece Iraq billboard memorial at the corner of Hilliard and Lexington in Asheville, NC. One billboard posts the current total of the war dead; the other lists the US dead by name.

On Thursday , April 7, 04, two people using a truck from Lamar Advertising were caught and photographed hanging signs over the Memorial. One sign stated "Support Our Troops". They were caught before the other one could be hung.

When asked what they were doing, they said they were "replacing" the billboard. When told they were on private property, they responded that most of the Lamar billboards are on private property. When told that the billboards were also private property and not Lamar property, they quickly
backed off and stated that they must have made a mistake and the signs were to go elsewhere.

The president of the Western NC Chapter of the Veterans for Peace, Tim Pluta, called the police. The police checked, and then agreed that it was "a mistake". Pluta replied, "When you look at the pictures of them covering our billboard, you can see their cover was custom made for this job, and I do not believe it was a mistake".

"They covered up the names of nearly 600 US soldiers killed in Iraq. I think this really reflects the "cover up" going on about why we are in Iraq. How can they think that covering up the names of our dead soldiers on a memorial supports our soldiers"?

"I called Lamar's local office (828-687-4000). I said their behavior was a disgrace, and disrespectful to all of those who have died in Iraq", Pluta added. "I also asked them to call me back and give me their reasons for doing what they did, and invited them to sit and talk about our differing points of view. They have not returned my call."

 In fact, this attempted cover-up is a local form of a national problem. The Bush administration will not allow photography of coffins returning from overseas because it makes the dead too visible.

However, our dead and wounded are the high cost of the military bases and the cheap oil the administration hopes to gain by occupying Iraq. Hiding the names of our war dead under an advertisement for the war is WRONG.

Lamar Outdoor Advertising is the largest billboard company in the world. Please let their national headquarters know what you think about their
 attempted cover-up: e-mail them at rtempanaro@lamargraphics.com.

Letters to the editor of your local paper help expose this disgraceful incident.

Don't let the true cost of this war remain hidden!