The Secret Struggle for the Most Important American War Memorial Ever Built
I. A Foolish Nation Forgets Its Heroes
How shall we remember our heroes? And how shall we encourage more heroism in the future? These questions reach deep into the moral foundation of the American republic, and yet they are also important strategic questions. As another anniversary of 9/11 looms near, we should all understand this reality: The United States will be strong and secure only as long as it has brave men and women willing to fight for it.
Indeed, never in U.S. history have the twinned issues of remembrance and encouragement—looking to the past, looking to the future—been more important than now. So we, the people, must take history into our own hands; we must take control of the memorial building process, taking it away from defeatist elitists, effete aesthetes, unelected bureaucrats, environmental-impact-statement-mongering filibusterers.
For too long, these non-representative snobs have been allowed to dominate the process of American commemoration—and it shows. We can see their handiwork on the National Mall in Washington D.C.
