Desecrating dead heroes

It has now been officially determined that whoever threw the unknown oily substance all over the Vietnam War Memorial committed an act of vandalism:

The unidentified substance that was found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial earlier this month was the result of vandalism, the U.S. Park Police said yesterday.

Sgt. Robert Lachance, a Park Police spokesman, said that a detective made the conclusion but that officials would provide no more details because the investigation is continuing.

Lachance said the case would involve a long-term investigation. "It's a terrible crime, and we want to solve it," he said.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Wall, offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

The oily substance was first reported to police the evening of Sept. 7, National Park Service officials have said. Yesterday, dark blotches remained along a stone curb at the base of the Wall for much of its length, and at least 14 of its 140 inscribed panels, marked with pieces of blue tape, bore what appeared to be stains from something being splashed on them.

Park Service officials said they did not know what the substance was and at first said it was unclear whether it was the result of vandalism or some kind of accident.

They're going to have to take a lot of time cleaning it up, as they don't want to make it worse by causing it to penetrate into the stone.

While they have no idea who did it, the Memorial Fund designer doesn't think any organized group could have been involved:

The black granite Wall, dedicated in 1982, bears the names of more than 58,000 men and women killed or missing in the Vietnam War. It is one of the most visited tourist sites in Washington.

"It's deplorable that someone would vandalize what's really a national shrine," said Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Memorial Fund. "It's an outrage. It's sad."

He said the memorial is open 24 hours a day year-round and has been visited by an estimated 80 million people.

"No organized group would ever be a part of anything like this," he said. "But there are deranged individuals in our society, and I think one has visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."

The problem is, there are plenty of individuals deranged enough to do something like that. Just take a look at some of the fringe types who routinely attend some of the antiwar marches.

The kind of people who hold signs like this....

vile5.jpg

...are precisely the kind of deranged individuals who would vandalize the war memorial.

It would not surprise me if whoever was slimy enough to do this was also a slimy attention seeker who bragged about it somewhere. For a $5,000 reward, it might be worth monitoring some of the loony left bulletin boards and hate sites.

With enough people looking, maybe something will turn up.

I do hope they catch whoever it is, as this is akin to vandalizing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In ancient times, those who died in battle were venerated, and desecrating them was considered an intolerable offense. Fortunately for the vandal, we're too civilized to give him the Roman treatment for his crimes.

I wrote this post to help spread the word about the reward, and because I don't think this is getting the attention it should, especially now that it has been established that it was vandalism.

This was an attack on all Americans.

posted by Eric on 09.18.07 at 09:57 PM





TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://classicalvalues.com/cgi-bin/pings.cgi/5538






Comments

It wasn't an attack on all Americans; it was an attack on the most pathetic monument this nation has ever erected.

The Vietnam War Memorial commemorates people who died in this war... but also notes, through omission, that we as a nation are not brave enough to explain why. They died to slow down the advance of that brand of Russian / Chinese empire mislabeled "Communism". But, we can't say that, because our nation's elites as of the early 1980s were agitating on the side of Mao and Pol Pot fifteen years prior.

That memorial deserves to be torn down, so a real anti-Communist and pro-American (and pro-Vietnamese!) memorial can be erected in its place.

David Ross   ·  September 19, 2007 12:52 AM

Are you saying that the attack was justified or that you don't like the memorial?

(Naturally, now I'm wondering whether vandalism might have come from someone on the right. I guess I shouldn't have made assumptions.)

Eric Scheie   ·  September 19, 2007 07:48 AM

First off, thanks for not banning me, given the soreness of the topic; although I suspect I'm on probation. :^)

Acts of vandalism are justified against bad memorials. But the means of vandalism also has to make a point.

You are right that I can't see how spraying some kind of disgusting substance over the memorial is in any way productive. But if the vandals had found a blank space on the memorial and chiseled slogans in support of the late lamented Army of the Republic of Viet Nam, perhaps with some pointed comments about Kerry and Fonda ... well, what are we waiting for?

David Ross   ·  September 19, 2007 09:40 AM

It is not my practice to ban commenters or put them on probation. I did it once with a commenter who was extremely abusive and profane, but I'm not sure I would do that again. But the idea of banning a commenter because of a disagreement would not occur to me.

Anyway, I think any sort of vandalism of that memorial to the dead -- for any reason, whether leftist, rightist, centrist or simple malice -- is disrespectful and outrageous.

Eric Scheie   ·  September 19, 2007 10:52 AM

"Outrageousness" was my point, and I have no problem showing "disrespect" for that memorial. You are using objective terms; the whole point of this exercise is to decide who is (or should be) outraged and what is (or should be) the target of the disrespect.

As for disrespect for the dead, you are assuming that all the men whom that memorial cites would agree that they ought to be commemorated in such a manner.

I asset the contrary: that the memorial dishonors the soldiers' cause and that it would show greater respect for the dead if the memorial were altered. By the US government, preferably; but by individual patriots if such is not forthcoming. (I've already conceded that throwing junk at it is NOT the way to do it; and I do apologise for not making that clear at the outset.)

I am not a veteran. Are you? For this conversation, we need to hear a soldier, or at least an expert on soldiers' ethics.

David Ross   ·  September 19, 2007 11:45 AM

Post a comment

You may use basic HTML for formatting.





Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)



September 2007
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
            1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30            

ANCIENT (AND MODERN)
WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR


Search the Site


E-mail




Classics To Go

Classical Values PDA Link



Archives




Recent Entries



Links



Site Credits