Laminated yellow stars spotted the grass field near the Brickyard Tuesday.

College Democrats placed 822 stars in the field in front of D.H. Hill Library to honor the 822 U.S. soldiers who died in the Iraq War during the past year.

Tara Ilsley, president of the College Democrats and sophomore in political science and Spanish, said this year marked the bloodiest year in the Iraq War.

Messages written on signs placed at the memorial displayed facts about the death toll taken in the last four years of war.

One had small portraits of some of the 822 men and women lost this year while another displayed messages of the 3,218 total U.S. military death toll.

But for each of those 3,218 Americans who died, at least five civilians died in the conflict oversees, Ilsley said.

According to Ilsley, the civilian death toll is possibly much higher than sources estimate because the United States does not recognize Iraqi civilian deaths.

The College Republicans also came out Tuesday in support of the U.S. troops.

Several members of the organization tied large yellow ribbons around trees throughout the Brickyard.

“It’s customary for friends and family of the troops to wrap trees in yellow ribbon in anticipation of their arrival home,” Christine DiPietro, vice chair of the College Republicans, said.

Organizers also provided yellow ribbons that students could take and wear in recognition of the war.

DiPietro, a sophomore in political science, said she chairs the Committee for a Better University, which set up a Facebook group to encourage students to wear red Tuesday in support and respect for the troops.

Ilsley reflected on the four years of war.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘How much is my life affected by this war?'” Ilsley said. “It needs to be in your face.”