100,000,000 Question Marks

[whitehall]

There was a time when war memorials displayed heroic images but those days are gone. Now the powers that approve the designs want to pretend that Americans aren't capable of heroic acts in defense of their Country and war is merely an act of universal suffering. About 50,000 Americans died during the three year Korean War, sometimes in fierce fighting, but the Korean War memorial looks like a bunch of grunts headed to the chow hall or the latrine, ditto the three racially correct grunts in the Vietnam memorial who seem to be lost. The Wall is a different deal but it memorializes only death instead of valor.

 

[whitehall]

The politics behind federally sponsored memorials is interesting. It seems that the media and the federal government was satisfied to forget the "forgotten war" because it was so grossly mishandled by the Truman administration and they didn't get around to a Korean War memorial until 40 years after the event. We ended up with a field of ghost like statues going nowhere. The most recognized war memorial is the Iwo Jima Flag raising because it tells a story and it depicts duty, honor and country. The blank faced bronze of three Vietnam grunts is entirely forgettable and maybe that was the intent.