Eyes Wide Open (exhibit)

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Eyes Wide Open is an exhibit created by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) observing the American soldiers and marines who died in the Iraq War (2003–2011). It contains a pair of combat boots to represent every American soldier and marine who died in the war, as well as shoes representing Iraqi civilians who lost their lives during the invasion and occupation.

The exhibit was first shown in Chicago's Federal Plaza in January 2004. At that time, the exhibit contained 504 pairs of boots.^[1]

As of March 2007, the national exhibit contained over 3,400 pairs of boots and had visited more than 100 cities in 40 states.^[2] However, as a result of its unmanageable size, the exhibit has been broken down state-by-state. Currently, nearly every state has its own state exhibit. The national exhibit in its entirety would currently contain more than 4,000 pairs of empty boots.