More than 350 of them will be there, in rows, in military formation, on the State Capitol Grounds on Monday and July 11.

They will be there to say something. Without saying anything at all.

More than 350 pairs of combat boots will be placed in formation on the grass of the Capitol Mall to represent National Guard soldiers who have died in Iraq. The exhibit is sponsored by a Quaker organization, the Chicago-based American Friends Service Committee, which includes people of various faiths.

The AFSC's exhibit, which is titled the "Eyes Wide Open National Guard Memorial," also includes a visual representation of Iraqi civilian casualties. This exhibit is a part of the AFSC's nationally touring exhibition, which first opened in Chicago with 500 pairs of boots in January 2004 and continues to grow as the death toll rises.

The national exhibit now includes more than 2,400 pairs of combat boots representing U.S. military casualties, along with more than 3,000 pairs of shoes memorializing a small fraction of the Iraqi civilians who have been killed in the conflict, according to information provided by Karen Van Fossen, president of the North Dakota Peace Coalition.

Van Fossen, who is helping to bring the exhibit to Bismarck, said that to her knowledge none of the boots are those of the actual soldiers. But she said it is typical that fallen soldiers' families will leave memorabilia by the pair of boots that has the name of their fallen soldier.

"We want this to be a place of meditation … honoring, in silent prayer … those we have lost," she said.

The memorial will be in Fargo this weekend, move to Bismarck, and then will be transported to Montana and Oregon.

"We wanted to bring it to Bismarck because we want to honor those who have fallen in the Iraq war, both solders and civilians," she said. "And we don't want to lose anyone else."

She said the memorial is meant to give a place for people to gather and mourn.

She said current statistics have North Dakota in the second spot, with Vermont in first, for the highest per capita death rates.

"This affects us very deeply," she said.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@bismarcktribune.com.)