The Shame of the World Trade Center Memorial

(From a conversation on TFC - original discussion here: http://thefedorachronicles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3924)

So it appears the memorial plans have been scrapped. Go figure.

You know, the whole thing reflects extremely poorly on the mindset of the American people. As has been explained better elsewhere, it's a shining example of how indecisive we are and how short our collective attention span has become. Going on seven years and all we've got to show is a hole in the ground - come to think of it, pretty much the same thing we had September 12, 2001.

By 1944, most of the ships sunk at Pearl Harbor were either back in circulation or cannibalized for new parts. Even the Arizona lent her guns to new defenses on the island of Oahu, and she's pretty much become the symbol of the whole event. Another ship, West Virginia , boasts a particularly active war record; not only was she present (and damaged - six torpedoes and two bombs) on December 7th, she was also involved in several major engagements later in the war, to include covering landing men at Leyte, the later battle of Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At the very last she was present in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the surrender.

Of similar repute (but unfortunately less note) were the destroyers Shaw, Cassin, and Downes. Shaw is seen in the first picture underneath that fireball formerly comprised of the contents of her forward magazine. Despite the considerable damage, she was refitted and served out the rest of the war.




The second shows the remains of Cassin and Downes with the battlewagon USS Pennsylvania in the background.





As all three ships were in drydock, the damage came entirely from bombs and secondary explosions. Pennsylvania served out the rest of the war, providing fire support at Makin (1943) Kwajalein, Eniwetok, the Marianas, Tinian, and Guam, and attended the battle of Leyte Gulf along with West Virgina (1944).

Salvage work on both destroyers was considered complete by the end of 1942, with both ships returning to service a year later. Cassin went on to serve at Letye Gulf and provide fire support off Iwo Jima. Downes spent the remainder of the war running convoy duty between Eniwetok and Saipan and eventually patrolling the waters around Tinian.

But that was when Americans knew how and when to fight. Good God...if it happened with the American public of today West Virginia would still be sitting up the superstructure in saltwater while whole slew of committees wring their hands and try to build a proper meatball memorial - all the while expressing proper regret for the imperialist use of such a ship in the first place, of course.

Pathetic. No better word than that.