MHS Junior Honors Fallen Soldiers in Project

After visiting the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington last spring, Millburn High School junior Rachel Okrent used it as an inspiration to honor the soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I thought it was beautifully simple, just granite and names, so when (teacher Michelle) Blakely assigned us a memorial project I knew I wanted to follow in that tradition," Okrent said.

In a project for her American Literature class last spring, she typed the names of the 4,400 fallen soldiers (as of May) as part of the culmination of the War and Remembrance unit. Her final work, which has the names set against an American flag, is called "Together We Fall."

Blakely's father had a student who is listed in her project, Okrent said, and the student's mother will receive a copy of the project in honor of Veteran's Day on Thursday.

The high school junior said she chose to honor those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan because the two wars have been going on for the majority of her life.

"I don't remember the news without death tolls," she said. "But still, I think there are times when people forget and I don't want to. I don't want anyone to. There are very brave people who have fought for us and who are fighting for us now. We owe them and their families everything. This project was the least I could do."

Okrent said she found a website that pays tribute to the fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and used the database to type every single name into a document. She later found another website with a complete list, but she said she couldn't bring herself to copy and paste it.

"I figured these men and women died for this country and I should have the decency to write their names," she said. The entire project took her 10-12 hours over the course of a little over a week.

Blakely said she thought from the beginning Okrent's project would be a wonderful memorial to the soldiers and their families. "I was awed by the way she designed the final project," she said.

It was later she found out Okrent insisted on typing the names, rather than copying and pasting them, in tribute to the soldiers. "Her project is a reflection of her genuine effort to pay tribute to their service.," Blakely said.