"A memorial done right!" Topic

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Personally, I think a war memorial that is something that kids can use is far better than a graveyard or statue or other large and imposing monument.

If you don't care about remembering the dead, you're right.

I'm practically sitting on top of the Allen County (Indiana) War Memorial Coliseum, built in 1952. Nice place to watch a basketball or hockey game, and kids are periodically handed diplomas there. But if you find any reference to our fallen on their web site
memorialcoliseum.com
or the Wikipedia article
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please point it out to me.

Nothing wrong with a pool or a sports arena, but a memorial should perpetuate memory.

For what it's worth, I used to live so close to Arlington Cemetery that Arlington has since expanded to take up that land. I would not personally wish to restore the quarter-mile track in place of the graves.

I think it should be more than just the name, is there a plaque somewhere? If not, this just seems like justifying the cost of an amenity with lip-service to the fallen. That said, an amenity like that for the whole community shouldn't need any further justification beyond what it is.

I think the honored dead should be honored and not memorialized by swimming pools and playground equipment.

The best memorial I've seen is that for Christopher Wren the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. On a very small plaque on the floor, in Latin, it reads "If you seek his monument, look around."

I agree with Nick. It's an Australian tradition, started in the years after WWI. Everyone knew what the "Memorial" meant, and everyone knew where the cenotaph was, if they wanted to read the names of the fallen. It may seem understated, but it suited- and, outside the capital cities, still does- our culture. So it's good to see the Taswegians continuing the tradition.

Youse can skip the next two paragraphs unless you want to know how the tradition came about and the current state of play.

Most battalions/regiments were drawn from people living in the same general area, so the returning veterans would form a club, usually a "Returned Servicemen's League", "Army and Navy" or "Soldiers'" club. Getting down to the beach, or to a safe swimming spot on a river, could be difficult in those days, and the clubs often donated the funds to help the local city/town council build the "Memorial Baths", as they were called then. They also paid, with Commonwealth and state support, to have a cenotaph erected, which listed the names of all the fallen- whether KIA, DoW, DoI or MPD. At times the cenotaph would be near the entrance of the baths, but more usually in the centre of the town.

These days the baths in the cities and suburbs are being claimed by councils, sold to developers and built over, while the cenotaphs are often moved to an out-of-the-way location, so they don't hinder pedestrian or vehicle movement. One of the benefits of multiculturalism, I suppose.

Thank Nick and Dal
It is always nice to learn something new!

Your problem and not mine, Nick and Dal. For me, the memory is important--more so in the era of "multiculturalism." It's a way or telling the newbies that citizenship comes with responsibilities, and that those may entail adding family members to the memorial.

"Your problem and not mine, Nick and Dal."
The memorial baths and cenotaphs aren't a problem for us, Robert. You're the one who thinks we're doing it wrong. If some foreign doesn't agree with how we do things, that's fine. They can scowl and howl as much as they like.

As for multiculturalism and politico-corporate greed, we're not unique in being afflicted by either.