RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-realistic-monument-to-heroism-11622233360?mod=opinion_reviews_pos2

The Korean War ended more than two decades before the messy conclusion of the war in Vietnam. And yet a memorial to that earlier, “forgotten” war was dedicated only on July 27, 1995, 13 years after the completion on the National Mall of a wall of polished granite, etched with the names of those who died in Vietnam.

Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington—once so polemical—is now thought by many to be as close to reverential perfection as a war memorial can be. It has had fierce critics. Jim Webb, a Vietnam vet and U.S. senator, called it “a nihilistic slab of stone.” The wall is stark, even accusatory, and a bronze sculpture of three soldiers was added later to shush those who regarded Ms. Lin’s creation as too cerebral—even insufficiently heroic.

As if determined not to stoke such controversy, the Korean Veterans Memorial is, by contrast, stubbornly literal. A demotic American masterwork, it is plain-spoken and realist. It appeals to old-fashioned conceptions of what is heroic and admirable. Unlike the Vietnam Memorial, which yields its richness to those who meditate before it, the Korean Memorial fills even a child with awe—and it does so instantly, on first contact, as I found when I took my son to see it when he was 10 years old, a full decade ago. There is no sight quite like that of a small boy transfixed before statues that tower over him.

The monument—designed by Cooper-Lecky Architects of Washington—has many elements, including a Pool of Remembrance and a low-slung United Nations Wall that lists the 22 countries that joined the U.S. in its “police action” in Korea. Another wall, listing the names of the Americans who died, will be completed next year.

The monument’s true heart is a triangular “Field of Service,” on which stand the sculptures of 19 soldiers, wrought in unpolished stainless steel, each man about 7 feet tall. Early models had them at 8 feet, but this size was thought to come much too close to glorifying war: At a foot less in height they are daunting to behold, but not superhuman; larger than life without surpassing a likeness to it.

The statues are “a case of art rendering argument superfluous,” wrote Benjamin Forgey, architecture critic of the Washington Post, in an early review of the monument. Called “The Column,” they are an irrefutable statement on the harshness, the dread, and the team spirit of battle.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/not-forgotten-11622231865?mod=opinion_lead_pos8

After the dismal Covid spring of 2020, many Americans are eager to resume their communal displays of gratitude for the people whose sacrifices have allowed us to live in freedom.

“Memorial Day Parade returns Monday,” notes a headline in The Telegraph newspaper of Alton, Ill. No rain is expected and the parade will follow its traditional route. It seems the town’s tradition proved too strong even for Covid. The Telegraph’s Ron DeBrock reports:

The Alton Memorial Day Parade is one of the longest consecutive Memorial Day parades in the nation, dating back to 1868.
Last year COVID-19 concerns prevented the East End Improvement Association from hosting the parade. A small group, however, decided to meet at Alton Middle School for an unofficial Memorial Day procession. Word of the plan spread, and nearly 40 decorated vehicles participated in the extemporaneous event.

This year, such events are returning to normal. On America’s East Coast, volunteers have once again planted 37,342 American flags on Boston Common to honor all those from Massachusetts who have given their lives defending our nation since the Revolutionary War. Last year only a thousand flags were planted as the state imposed significant Covid restrictions.

Charlie McKenna reports for the Boston Globe on the families of the fallen who have come to honor their dead:

Melida Arredondo, whose stepson Alex was killed in Iraq in 2004, said fellow Gold Star families who take in the display share a unique connection.
“Being out here seeing the other families – there’s a bond. You might not even know the other family’s first name or whatever, you just remember the kids,” she said.
She said it was a profound feeling “just to be here and honor each other as those who have lost their loved ones, honoring the troops who have lost their compañeros, and honoring those from Massachusetts who have died for liberty.”

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/05/31/we-need-more-statues-of-americas-heroic-saga-not-fewer/

President Joe Biden just nixed his predecessor’s proposed “National Garden of American Heroes.” That came as no surprise. Donald Trump had pitched it during the thick of last year’s presidential campaign. Then Trump issued executive orders to set up a task force for the monument and even to specify 244 candidates to be included in the new statuary garden, ranging from pivotal historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Tecumseh, and Harriet Tubman to modern-day celebrities such as Whitney Houston, Kobe Bryant, and Alex Trebek.

Historians understandably questioned the scattershot list. And the Biden team rarely treats the former president’s actions with anything other than contempt. But Trump’s proposal did represent the proper kind of response to current struggles about America’s past. We should focus on putting up new statues, not pulling down old ones.

More generally, our cultural institutions should be bringing our divided country together, not pushing us further apart. By all means, we should be adding new stories to the great American saga, rich and vibrant threads that make our national tapestry both more beautiful and more resilient. Instead, far too many authors, artists, and activists seem intent on tearing the fabric.

For example, more Americans should know about a hero who wasn’t on Trump’s list: Robert Smalls. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, Smalls made a daring escape from the port of Charleston during the Civil War — donning a captain’s uniform and piloting a ship full of other enslaved people past multiple Confederate checkpoints to the blockading Union fleet. After aiding the Union cause during the war, Smalls learned to read and write, helped integrate public transportation in Philadelphia, built businesses and schools, and began his political career, serving in both the South Carolina legislature and the U.S. Congress.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/05/29/paul-ryans-impotent-appeal/

Of all the reactions to Paul Ryan’s speech Thursday at the Reagan Library in California, I thought the funniest was the one titled “Paul Ryan Begins to Re-emerge.” I found that idea funny because the speech I heard signaled the opposite: not burgeoning “re-emergence” on to the political stage but, on the contrary, an almost comical confirmation of obscurity. 

Ryan is a careful man, well-pressed, armed with all the best clichés, and utterly feckless. He salted his talk with plenty of gems calculated to appeal to conservatives. He appealed early and often to the ghost of Ronald Reagan—understandable given the auspices of his talk. And his speechwriters dropped all the right phrases about keeping government off the people’s backs, the evils of identity politics and political correctness, the desirability of low taxes, and economic prosperity. 

He was also careful to rehearse some of the achievements of the last four years, the years when his nemesis Donald Trump ran the roost. He was happy to associate himself with those triumphs. 

Nevertheless, sounding like an obbligato throughout Ryan’s talk was a warning that Republicans must not tether their fortunes to the wagon of Trumpism. He had a few nice words for populism, but then warned: 

If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality or of second-rate imitations, then we’re not going anywhere. Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence in mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago. We win majorities by directing our loyalty and respect to voters and by staying faithful to the conservative principles that unite us.

A skeptical observer might wonder what Paul Ryan knows about how to “win majorities.” A skeptical observer who was also uncharitable might utter the name “Mitt Romney” at this point. I would not stoop so low. 

I think there are two takeaways from the former Republican House speaker’s emetic performance on Thursday. One concerns the species of conservatism for which he is a—well, I was going to say “spokesman,” but that is not quite right since he speaks for no one, really, except for himself. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say “for which is an embodiment.”

What is that brand of conservatism? It is more an attitude than a definable philosophy. It is understated, well-polished, and clubbable. It is comfortable uttering nostrums that sound conservative while actually achieving nothing. It is what we might call “window-dressing conservatism.” Safe. Pampered. Epicene. Above all, it is adept at losing while covering those losses with a glaze marked “dignity.” “We lost, my fellow Americans, but at least we did it with our heads held high.” 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/05/antisemitism-is-an-attack-on-american-principles/

America and Jews owe each other a great debt. An attack on one is an attack on both.

The renowned British historian Paul Johnson has called anti-Semitism “a disease of the mind.” There seems to be no permanent cure for this disease. It has flared up again, not just in the usual international settings — in the United Nations General Assembly, for example — but much closer to home.

During the first week of the Israel–Hamas conflict, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) received 193 reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States. Two weeks ago, Jews were attacked by gangs in New York City and Los Angeles, and synagogues were vandalized in Skokie, Tucson, and Salt Lake City.

Attacks on Jews, however, began long before the most recent clash between Israel and the Islamist terrorist organization of Hamas. In 2019, the ADL recorded more than 2,100 anti-Semitic acts, the highest number in the 40-year history of the organization’s report. The murderous rampages in synagogues in California and Pittsburgh, a shooting at a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, the arson at the Portland Chabad Center for Jewish Life, the stabbing at the rabbi’s home during Chanukah in Monsey, N.Y., and brutal assaults on Hasidic men in Brooklyn — such incidents are no longer a rare occurrence.

Anti-Semitism is more than a hate crime. It represents a unique assault on America’s founding principles of equality and freedom. Despite the manifest violation of these principles from the start of the American experiment — the existence of slavery and the treatment of Native Americans — the United States created a civic culture that would regard Jews as equal citizens. Outside of Israel, America would become the most welcoming home to Jews of any nation in the world.