By BILL
MEMORIAL DAY IS HERE. IT’S proper we remember the nearly 3,500 brave men and women who’ve given their lives in Iraq amidst all the picnics, afternoons at the beach and trips to local amusement parks.
We each approach death in our own way and I’m not into public displays of grief. Maybe that’s why I have some mixed feelings about “Arlington West.”
It was originally conceived by a Santa Barbara carpenter and embraced by the Santa Barbara chapter of Veterans for Peace. The first installation in November, 2003 was alongside the pier at Santa Barbara’s Stern’s Wharf.
The idea was quickly copied by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Veterans for Peace. Their first crosses — placed on Sunday at dawn and removed at sundown — were erected February, 15, 2004, on the beach just north of the Santa Monica Pier. Every Sunday, they return.
Veterans for Peace is a 501(C)(3) “educational and humanitarian, nonprofit corporation dedicated to abolishing war." According to their website, http://www.addictedtowar.com/vfp-ms.html, there are 135 chapters across the country and dozens of international affiliations.
I don’t disagree philosophically with VFP or the mission statement of Arlington West which is to: “Acknowledge the human cost and consequences of war as an instrument of national policy to mourn the loss of life at the hands of violence and the terrorism of war, to acknowledge the fallen and the wounded to offer a grim reminder of the cost and consequences of invasion and occupation, to provide a place for contemplation and to educate the public about the needs of those returning from war.”
My issue is that the whole project is too much “in your face.” Erecting a turgid war memorial between an amusement pier and a public beach where families and children go to have fun and relax is heavyhanded, inappropriate and exploitive.
It reminds me of a beautiful woman wearing too much make-up. She doesn’t have to “shout” to get attention. The beauty is already there. But, all the makeup defiles her beauty, calls attention to itself, is ultimately distasteful and offensive.
I know this paper will get letters saying Arlington West is necessary for world peace. I say, "It isn’t,” because it politicizes the grieving process and does nothing to change National policy. For me, it’s not the right time or place to proselytize.
There’s also the conflicting messages. Honoring and remembering those who died for this country as opposed to ending this war. I’d bet many of the heroes symbolized by the temporary crosses at Arlington West might not share the philosophy of the Veterans for Peace. Assuming I were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan which also seems to have been forgotten, I wouldn’t want my death exploited in this way by anyone — even if I agreed with them.
My column, "The greatest gift is a soldier’s sacrifice,” (SMDP, December 25, 2006, Page 4), was about Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis, 19, from Pennsylvania who died last December 4 when he threw himself on a hand grenade lobbed into his Humvee while on patrol in Baghdad. His heroic action saved the lives of four other soldiers in the vehicle. According to local newspapers, Pfc. McGinnis told his family he believed he was fighting so a society (Iraq) could be free.
While we can question the immorality of persuading idealistic, young soldiers that they’re “fighting for freedom,” Pfc. McGinnis believed that’s what he was doing and it was the right thing to do.
Right or wrong, that belief must be respected — something the manipulative promoters of Arlington West aren’t doing.
Maybe, to many antiwar activists, it doesn’t make a difference whether those killed in combat would be offended or their families would be hurt. Their political message of “no war" takes precedence over respect and dignity.
Today, I’ll probably drop by the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood or maybe visit a few soldier’s graves I know of at Santa Monica’s own Woodlawn Cemetery and pay my own respects.
It’s at one of these hallowed places where I’ll thank them for the great work they accomplished, the sacrifice they’ve made and then pray for an end to this and future wars on my own terms in my own way.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.