Left-Wing Activist Claims ‘War Monuments are Killing Us’ Day After Memorial Day

Monica Sanchez | May 30, 2017
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(Image via Twitter)

Left-wing, anti-war activist David Swanson published an opinion piece on Tuesday, the day after the nation celebrated Memorial Day, on how U.S. war monuments are “killing us.”

He claims that the monuments symbolize how America “focuses overwhelmingly on wars and overwhelmingly on glorifying them.”

Washington, D.C., and much of the rest of the United States, is full of war monuments, with many more under construction and being planned,” Swanson writes. “Most of them glorify wars. Many of them were erected during later wars and sought to improve the images of past wars for present purposes. Almost none of them teach any lessons from mistakes made.”

“The very best of them mourn the loss of a tiny fraction — the U.S. fraction — of the wars’ victims,” he adds.

Swanson later claims that Veterans For Peace — a group made up of "military veterans, family members, and allies" who preach peace and non-violence — is an example of what American society should be striving toward.

“Veterans For Peace is an example of what we should be doing as a society,” he says. “Admit our mistakes. Value all lives. Improve our practices. Honor courage when it is combined with morality. And recognize veterans by creating no more veterans going forward.”

Courage when it’s combined with morality? That line alone would make any patriot’s blood boil.

Swanson called for the U.S. to build “peace monuments" instead. He seems to forget about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the Peace Monument in Washington, D.C., to name a couple.

Not only that, but many "war monuments" celebrate peace, meaning the end of conflict and and the start of new beginnings.  

Yes, the U.S. has many monuments memorializing the brave men and women who served the country honorably in times of war. Even the Arlington National Cemetery and its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier fall into that category. Is the U.S. glorifying war itself by building these monuments and memorials? No.

“In a sane society, the war memorials would be one small example of many types of public memorials, and where they existed they would mourn, not glorify, and mourn all victims, not a small fraction deemed worthy of our sorrow,” Swanson argues.

Veterans and those currently serving in the armed forces would caution Swanson to take a step back and consider the sacrifice and selflessness that factors into a person’s decision to risk his or her life so that people like him have the freedom to write whatsoever they please.

And make no mistake, the death of a patriot is certainly "worthy of our sorrow." 

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