#war memorials

[nocternalrandomness]

An aerial view of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Hawaii

[haxanbroker]

The London & North Western War Mermorial. London, October 2024.

[besidethepath]

History gives many lessons - have we learned any? I doubt ...

[red-hot-moon]

I also learnt something very interesting today which I had never seen before: the American practice of leaving money on war graves or memorials. This was at the memorial for Lt. Col. Robert Cole.

I immediately thought of the ancient Greek practice of leaving coins on the eyes of the deceased to pay the ferryman, Charon, for their passage into the Underworld. But it’s even more interesting and touching than that:

“A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited. A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans. In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war. Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.” (source)

[scvpubliclib]

Spain Exhumes Its Painful Past

There is a compelling case that the Sánchez administration’s proposal for El Valle, the resting place of the Spain’s long-time dictator General Franco, would go a long way toward reconciling the still divisive legacy of the civil war. From its origins, to its myths, to its architecture, El Valle is steeped in infamy. Unlike other postwar democratic transitions, there was no “transitional justice” in Spain as part of the dismantling of the Franco regime. Now, however, El Valle will receive a radical makeover. In June, Sánchez announced his intention to move Franco’s remains from El Valle and transform the site from a shrine to Francoism to a “memorial for the victims of fascism.”

[eopederson]

“Aux Morts Pour la Patrie,” Mémorial de la Première Guerre mondiale, Cadillac, Gironde, 2017.

As we near the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I (11-11-1918), it is worthwhile remembering how horrible that conflict was. Although small and far from the front lines in Belgium and Northern France, a long list of victims of the war from the commune of Cadillac is engraved on the stone below the oblisque. There is a similar memorial in virtually every French settlement large enough to have a public space at its center

[turnbullephemera]

The Railways Studios were responsible for beautiful tourist posters, and the 1930s saw brightly coloured posters in the fashion of the time. This one features weeping willows which lined the Avon River through the city, and Christchurch's Bridge of Remembrance, fortunately still standing amidst the city's changed landscape. In small panels beneath are other South Island highlights: Queenstown, Mount Cook and Hanmer's hot springs.

New Zealand Railways. Publicity Branch :Christchurch, New Zealand South Island, the playground of the Pacific, with the wonders on the doorstep! Sunny lakes, mountains and glaciers, hot springs [1935].

Eph-E-TOURISM-Christchurch-1935-01