If you ask most locals why they think our World War II Memorial was defaced earlier this week, they would tell you they suspect it was targeted for what it stands for. This newspaper has been inundated with calls, letters, emails and social media posts saying they are not convinced it was just rowdy visitors in town for the holiday that had too much to drink. The belief by the overwhelming majority of those who contacted us say they are pretty sure it was deliberately targeted, because it was a symbol of what gives most of us pride in country and community.
We only have to look at what’s been taking place around the country by out of control thugs, who feel that if they see a symbol that they personally dislike and disagree with, all they have to do is demand those symbols be removed and they can get their way. And if they don’t get their way, they are also convinced they are entitled and have the right to destroy them. The fact that these disgruntled thugs HAVE been getting their way and getting away with it these last couple of years, because people in positions of authority are too cowardly to stand up to them and in some cases agree with the thugs, only encourages more of it.
Someone doesn’t like a statue of a historical military figure or one standing in a church courtyard or the name of a street, a plaque on a building, or our FLAG, it must come down. This is the mentality running wild by a vocal and dangerous few in this nation and is actually enabled by those who should know better.
Our war memorials are sacred to South Bostonians, current and former, as well as to every American who loves this country. The names engraved on them are those of ‘True American Heroes’. The time to tolerate those, whose values are so twisted that they would vandalize this or any other symbol of American pride, as well as those who by their silence and cowardice enable and encourage these actions, must come to an end now.
