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Citizen complaint of the day: Vietnam memorial in the Fenway defaced
By adamg on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 9:58pm
Update, Friday: Crews have started cleaning the memorial.
A disgusted citizen files a 311 complaint about the vandalism to the Vietnam War memorial in the Fenway Rose Garden.
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Comments
Ugh
It’s all over the sidewalk adjacent to the track as well. Someone wrote “Red bike and my dog” over and over
Vietnam Memorial Vandalism
Where's the outrage? I guess given the fact that this sort of act has become sadly common, I'm more saddened than angry.
Huh?
What "outrage" do you expect, in what form, where?
You've got a new post about it here, which is probably the first anyone heard of it. So what exactly are you complaining about?
And no, vandalizing war memorials is not "sadly common".
LMGTFY
Local veteran quietly googles 'war memorial vandalized' and browses through all the non-existent posts. Is neither surprised, outraged nor saddened as defacing all manner of public symbols, monuments and buildings has either become commonplace or simply amplified through the never ending cycle of content creation.
Aren't you the clever one?
Non-veteran quietly googles 'war memorial vandalized' and sees five incidents for the entire country in the past month.
We may simply disagree on what "common" means.
The memorial in Dorchester
The memorial in Dorchester was vandalized twice in the past few years.
Uh huh...
...and that's "common"? Two incidents in the past few years?
Help me with the math.
Griefers
Like the sad little children who think it is fun to destroy things that their friends built in Minecraft, this sort of shit is all about feeling powerful about destruction/making people mad.
Sad little power trip. Best to just roll eyes, clean the mess, and realize that people who do these things will get caught sooner than later and get their introduction to consequences.
punishment should fit the crime
If the perpetrator is not cognitively impaired, then I'd sentence them to 100 hours of community service at a homeless veterans shelter or VA hospital (plus clean up costs, etc). So many of those Viet Nam era vets were broken by the experience and we as a society failed them. The Defendant might learn a little something.
Thats what gets me
People don't remember nor do they care. So this is why this crap is done.
I am sure if it was some celebrity that everyone liked, this would not happen. But since people don't remember or care, here we are .
And I agree the punishment should fit the crime. I think being forced to go volunteer at a VA to see why we build these memorials for those who died. It might wake them up
But we dont see sentencing like that often here. Nor do I think the kids would even care after they did their time. They wouldn't learn anything from it..
IMHO from how careless I've seen kids today. They simply do not care. Respect for others needs to start early. Its clear we've some how lost this.
Asked and answered
You answered your own question. I guess that solves that mystery.
Outrage?
I am disappointed the hear this has happened, and hope it is quickly restored but I find myself unable to whip myself into outrage. Sorry, you'll have to find someone else to assemble a posse to hunt down the vandals.
Fens Memorials
Small detail. This is not in, or at, the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden is a different and separate location not that far away.
Larger issue. This war memorial (and the others at this location for other wars) is not a place that encourages visitors. The pathways are usually paved with a huge amount of goose droppings, and there's a local population of homeless and drug addicts that are usually hanging out in the area. A couple of years ago, they trimmed back some of the bushes that were hiding places for all kinds of activity but other than that, it's sad and disgusting.
Wow
Some people are complete douche rockets.
That memorial looks like
That memorial looks like something designed by a 5 year old playing with Lego blocks.
I'm sure the city would
I'm sure the city would welcome your donation of a more ornate memorial.
No sir, I wouldn't change a
No sir, I wouldn't change a thing (beside cleaning the graffiti and applying herbicide).
Have you ever walked through the area?
There are several war memorials here. This one matches the Korea memorial and both seem designed to be in keeping with bulk of the WW II memorial with its simple design and inscriptions. The WW II memorial is larger due to the large number of names, and has been embellished with statuary, but the core structure is consistent.
a peaceful place in memory of those who gave their lives
The names of the dead, thoughts of their families and friends when they learned a their loved ones were gone forever. The wars we have fought. That's what comes to mind sitting by the angel sculpture.
Unfortunately, it has become a gathering place for the unhoused, the addicted, the criminal since the phragmites behind the Victory Gardens have been cleared of encampments. Such that one does not feel safe going there, especially with children.
Like the Alexandre da Cunha sculpture that was recently tagged and cleaned on Brookline Avenue, these too can be repaired.