"This is not the first time Mr. Heaton, a longtime Lafayette resident, has tried to erect a memorial in his hometown. Three years ago, he tried to mount a smaller display of crosses on the same hillside. The night after he planted them, however, someone stole them. The next day, he planted the crosses again, and the next night, they disappeared again.
"But this time, Mr. Heaton says he feels that the mood about the war has shifted, both nationwide and in Lafayette.
“There’s been a real change in the tide of feeling about the war,” said Mr. Heaton, 53, who said the inspiration for the crosses came from a visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. “It is much more acceptable now to question the reasons for the war.”
"He added that Lafayette would be a good place to make a statement because “it is pretty sleepy and conservative and not that much happens there.”
"City officials in Lafayette also say their city has been slowly changing, with an influx of former Berkeley and San Francisco residents looking for a place with good public schools for their children. Lafayette, Mr. Samson said, now has “people who are very interested in the larger world.”
Found on FRONT PAGE of NYTimes
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