Every year on Veterans Day we go to the Mall and visit the war memorials.
It’s interesting to see the different approaches that the architects of these memorials took. The Korean War memorial, a small and quiet patch on one corner of the Mall, depicts cold, wet soldiers sneaking across rice paddies in the dark. The Vietnam War memorial is another quiet and somber place, a long and low wall listing the names of 58,000 American soldiers who fought in Vietnam and died there or died later due to their wounds. The World War II memorial, in the center of the Mall with fountains and big iron wreaths and quotes from Roosevelt and Churchill, is not so much a memorial to soldiers... doesn’t seem to have anything to do with soldiers actually... but more of a shrine to the victory of the Allied powers.
I’ll admit the contrast is a bit jarring. But it is what it is, and it tells a story that feels pretty true.
I feel so deeply for combat veterans of any war. I don’t really know why. I recently read The Things They Carried and highly recommend that if you haven’t read it. I don’t ever want to see war firsthand. I hope I never have to and that my children never have to.
1 comment:
My experience with war is through the eyes of others - and that is bad enough. I recall going to Arlington with you - very sobering.
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