Memorials

The formal entrance to the Olmsted historic district where we now live is a lovely, if shortish, boulevard called Memorial Avenue. The town keeps it well manicured and planted as it rolls down a mild hill to the Bay. In length at most a quarter mile, it includes eight monuments to wars fought by American forces. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if all small New England towns are as enthusiastic as Swampscott in erecting war memorials, or if the town fathers over the last 130 years felt some pressure given the expanse of green space made available by Olmsted’s plan to stock it with granite and bronze. I also wonder if Olmsted envisioned how the coming decades would create no shortage of opportunities to memorialize the sacrifice of its townspeople to war.

The memorials above in order are for: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, The World War, Desert Storm, Revolutionary War, World War I dead, and The Civil War dead.

Perhaps not surprising, the town has a standing War Memorial Committee, which rolled out plans in December 2010 for a future memorial to those from the town who have served in the War on Terror.
Inscribed on the back of the sand-colored stone memorial to service in Desert Storm in quotation marks, but unattributed, are these words: “Desert Storm truly was a victory of good over evil, of freedom over tyranny, of peace over war”. I couldn’t resist searching out the author of these stirring, if somewhat puzzling words. The answer, in case you didn’t know, is Dan Quayle. Clearly I have much to learn about our new town.