War Memorials

I grew up in a town that had two memorials in the local park where I spent the most time.  This park had an Arts and Crafts class in the mornings, the best children's playground in town, the ball fields, and the local pool.  There were picnics, ballgames, fireworks, and festivals held at this park.  Children played and ran and sang and danced (and cried and screamed) all over the park. We sat on, next to, and against the memorials.  We ate on them, slept on them, and I'm willing to bet that we even talked about sex while sitting on or near them.

There is another memorial that sits smack down in the center of the town square next to the courthouse.  It's some guy standing on a tall pedestal.  I have no idea what it's for because I didn't ever do anything except drive or walk past it. I never spent any time there and didn't care in the least about it.

The WWII Memorial in Washington DC on the site of the Rainbow Pool

 
There's a forward going around Facebook where Curt Autry at NBC12 states that people wading in the Rainbow Pool at the WWII Memorial in Washington DC are being disrespectful.  He blames it on bad parenting and a generation of people who, he says, feel entitled to anything even when they have low SAT scores.  You know what?  My SAT scores weren't horrible; I respect veterans; I don't feel entitled to having everything handed to me on a platter.

What about wading is disrespectful?  Going out on a hot day and looking at all the memorials around DC is exhausting.  Taking off your shoes and enjoying the refreshingly cool water around your ankles is a nice way to spend some time at this monument.  Sitting down and observing the monument, looking at the arches and the golden stars with your feet in the water is also a good way to rest and reflect on what's around.  If you're vacationing with your children, it seems like this would be a nice way to sit down and chat with them about what the memorial means, why it's there, what happened during war and why people are dead because of the war.

The WWII Memorial was built early in the 21st century, and the Rainbow Pool was there for over a century before the WWII memorial portion was built.  Look at this 1924 photo of people enjoying the water.  Folks were wading in that pool a long time before they built a WWII Memorial there.

When they decided to build the WWII Memorial on the spot of the Rainbow Pool, they kept the shape and location of the pool although they made a few changes like sinking it lower down into the ground to better fit the idea they were working with for the war memorial.  Nothing was done to change the look of it being pool and turn it into an obvious fountain that people should not go in, e.g., instead of putting a lip around the pool, they built steps that lead you to walk down and into it.

As you can see in the above photo, the "no wading" sign is small and can't be seen from every direction that you may approach the pool from.  Folks in various sites around the internet have also commented that they've asked park rangers if it's ok to wade, and the rangers have replied that they could wade as long as they don't get loud and boisterous.

The memorial and the pool go well together.  I can't speak for you, but I remember the memorial I played on and interacted with.  I don't remember that one in the town center that has some random guy sitting there.  Wading is not a sign of disrespect - nor is laughter, playfulness, or enjoying a beautiful day.