Remembering Wars Past

Since Tallahassee is both the State Capitol of Florida and the County Seat of Leon County there is some overlap in jurisdiction. One way that this can be seen is that in the downtown area there are four war memorials. There is a Leon County WWII memorial and then Florida State memorials for WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam. One day last week we went to see them all. This was mostly Matt’s interest, since he’s the big history and political science guy. In addition to the historic value, they are an interesting expression the interplay of human sacrifice, political authority, and the passage of time.

The Leon County WWII Memorial was dedicated in 2001 and it has a very sentimental feel. The bronze statue of an old soldier on a bench is the centerpiece of the memorial. This is a nod to the age of veterans at the time of the monument’s construction. The old man on the edge of the bench invokes the idea of remembering both those lost in the war (whose names appear on the bricks of the walkway surrounding the monument) and those who have already died of old age in the decades since the war ended. The choice of brick makes the monument feel warmer and more down home. It feels more like a backyard patio. This is likely the intended effect because of the smaller and more connected community making the remembrance.

The Florida WWII Memorial was dedicated in 2005 and also has a sentimental feel, but much less so. The main part is a concrete pillar hung with two bronze wreaths at the center of a circular space. If the wreaths have any special significance (beyond a general symbol of commemoration) is not made clear. The walls of the central space are white, polished concrete. The feel is overall more somber and more official. This seems appropriate in the context of a state-level monument. There are no inscribed names, rather each county was allowed a small plaque to “detail the contributions and sentiments” of its people. These plaques line a walk-way to the pillar and express all kinds of contributions and sentiments. Some list individuals who were killed, others comment on the war industries or training centers located in the county one shows a picture an airplane with the words “on patrol” and one county even advertises itself as the “home of the Four Freedoms monument.” Matt’s favorite is Osceola County which simply says, “To honor those who have borne the battle.” This can be interpreted in lots of ways and thereby commemorates those killed, the many more who served and the even greater number that sacrificed on the home front.

The Florida Viet Nam Veterans' Memorial was dedicated in 1984. Like the famous national memorial, which proceeded it by two years, it has the names of the dead carved into black granite. It takes the form of two upright panels with a huge flag hung between them. The list of names is headed by the text of Isaiah 2:4 – “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” The panels are positioned so that when one sits on the benches nearby and looks between the panels the dome of the old capital is centered between them. Below the huge flag are the smaller (and much further away) flags on the capital dome: the American flag, Florida’s state flag, and an MIA/POW flag. It is nice positioning. One sees at once the lives that where lost and the symbols of the ideas they died to protect.

The most striking of the memorials we saw was the Florida Korean War Veterans' Memorial. This was a very complex monument was dedicated in 1999. It includes a map of the Korean peninsula laid out like a courtyard, a timeline of the battles circling the courtyard with major battles represented by rough stone blocks in the middle of the path, and a large circular stone monument on the DMZ line with a broken-out section that lists the names of those who died. The ring is inscribed with “Duty Honor Country.” These three are mentioned in a quote by General Douglas McArthur about knowing the dignity of his troops’ deaths. The broken-out section is inscribed “Life” and it lays upside down nearby with the names on its (upright) inner surface. Walking around the monument, passing through the years of the conflict and being forced off the path by the “battles” one is invited to look at the map and see just where the battles were fought. The symbol of the circle broken by death is very powerful. There is a subtle reading to the monument that points to the circle remaining broken because there are still two Koreas. The conflict is not officially over. The DMZ still exists as a huge impediment to normalized relations (not to mention the impact on relations of rival economic systems and alliance structures). Overall, it is a very complex and thoughtful remembrance.