Standing in a sandbox on the lawn of the cemetery at Resurrection Catholic Community in Aptos are thousands of figurines representing Americans and Iraqis killed during the war that began in March 2003.

The 4,190 small white clay figures, each holding a U.S. flag, represent dead American soldiers. The 92,000 dark clay figures, behind the Americans like a shadow, represent Iraqis.

The installation’s creator, artist Kathleen Crocetti, started the project 4﻿1/2 years ago, and thought it would be an appropriate memorial on Veterans Day.

“I’m doing this to help people visualize the number of people killed in the Iraq war. We need a physical connection to that number,” said Crocetti, a Watsonville resident. “I thought we went into the war under false pretenses, and I can’t sanction pre-emptive war.”

Each figure is handmade and fired in a kiln that Crocetti, an art teacher at Mission Hill Middle School in Santa Cruz, has at home.

In the beginning, she crafted each figure herself.

However, once the numbers started climbing significantly, she called on the community to help.

Now, she hosts workshops so the public can help make the clay bodies and keep up with the growing number of deaths.

As long as the war continues, she’ll continue adding to the body count.

“I feel such shame and sadness in my name as an American,” she said. “I feel responsible for the pain and grief because of this war.”

Crocetti said she drew the number of dead civilians from www.iraqbody count.org, an organization that tracks civilian war deaths.

The war memorial will stay up at Resurrection until Dec. 7.