Giving New Meaning to a Civil War Monument

My local Civil War monument in Jamaica Plain has been turned into a memorial site for the 27 students and teachers, and administrators killed last week at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.  The memorial was organized by Carlos and Melida Arredondo, who lost a son in Iraq a few years ago.   They have been involved in anti-war and peace campaigns ever since.

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3 comments… add one
  • Mike Tuggle Dec 28, 2012 @ 6:48

    Placing memorials to murdered children at a Union monument is indeed appropriate.

    After all, Lincoln’s “vast, consolidated republic” that Robert E. Lee warned about is responsible for killing civilians resisting foreign domination in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Iraq, just to name a few.

    It’s significant that Obama has a portrait of Lincoln in his office – clearly, it’s inspiring him to order the deaths of children in Pakistan:

    http://dawn.com/2012/12/19/no-obama-tears-for-children-killed-by-drones-in-pakistan/

  • Dudley T Dec 22, 2012 @ 7:34

    There are things, meaningful things, we should be doing. Write your congressman about assault weapons, support funding for mental health facilities in your communities, divest stock in companies which produce video shooter games, speak out, reach out to young people who are hurting, pray for those who have experienced these events, support funding for better school security, give blood so that if ever something like this happens in your community it will be there if needed.

    It is awful to think these events are happening so frequently there is now a media and public template for them. Immediate, intense, coverage early which consists of rumors that turn out to be wrong. Armies of satellite trucks parked in grief stricken neighborhoods. Families and friends in their worst hour put on prime time TV and made to recount their loss. The inevitable politicians visiting the families. The psychologists, profilers, and pundits on parade. The people who barely knew the shooter trying to explain his actions. People visiting the site of the tragedy and leaving objects.

    Maybe all these things are relevant to our feelings, our desire to “do something”. But are we really helping? And how far is it proper for a nation to intrude on the private grief of people who are going through something we can’t begin to imagine?

  • bummer Dec 21, 2012 @ 6:16

    It’s hard to fathom a tragedy like the children and teachers in Connecticut. Bummer and extended family have hunted on occasion and am pleased that all children have matured, having learned a respect for firearms. That being said, new laws are required in an effort to stem his type of nightmare from repeating itself. This “old guy” has fought his lost cause and deems a war against the muslim world is futile. We can stay out of their world, as long as they stay out of ours. Keep the good thought Kevin.
    Bummer

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