CORNISH, N.H. (AP) – The father of a fallen New Hampshire soldier says a peace group in Cornish disrespected his son’s memory by using his name in a display.

The group Cornish Women for Peace labeled about two dozen pairs of boots with the names of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan and displayed them in town. One of the boots bore the name of 22-year-old Justin Rollins, who was killed in Iraq last year.

The group said it was honoring the soldiers’ memory and trying to get people to think about their loss. But Rollins’ father, Skip, says the boots were a disgrace.

“I’ve been stressed out for a week, not sleeping at night, knowing the names are on the boots, disrespecting these kids,” Rollins said. “This is not about politics, this is about respect. I believe everyone has the right to demonstrate and protest, but they have no right to use our son’s name on their anti-war display.”

During the past two weeks, the collection of more than a dozen pairs of boots has been displayed in the Cornish town offices as part of a nationwide awareness project dubbed “Eyes Wide Open.” For their last day in town, Cornish Women for Peace planned to display the boots at the annual Memorial Day ceremony, but did not, after Skip Rollins spoke up.

Rollins said that in the past few days he had been contacted by families of six other fallen New Hampshire soldiers who objected to the boots display.

Selectmen in Cornish asked the group to drop their protest plans.

“Our intent was to honor those who died in conflict,” Selectboard Chairman John Hammond said. “It was not a political statement. We don’t want Memorial Day to become a political issue. There’s always controversy in war and we didn’t feel it was appropriate to create a controversy here.”

Cornish Women for Peace, composed of about 10 area residents, agreed to shelve the display out of respect for Rollins, group member Ginny Wood said.

After the ceremony, state Rep. Carla Skinder brought Rollins to the boots, which were stored in her car. He removed the labels that bore the names of his son and six other New Hampshire soldiers whose families he had spoken with.

Skinder, who backed the bill to name a bridge for Rollins and spoke at the dedication ceremony earlier in the week, agreed the boots should not have been displayed, out of deference to the Rollins family.

“If someone who newly lost their son finds it offensive, that’s their right,” Skinder said. “We have to respect that. People have a right to demonstrate, but sometimes there’s a time and place for everything and if something causes so much hurt, sometimes we say no.”

AP-ES-05-31-08 1314EDT