The "Good War" in American Memory

Image Plates

Victory Arch, World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C. Dedicated 2004. The aesthetics of such arches aspire to recall the glory of a victory and to erase considerations of the costs of warfare. Credit: Brenna Snider. Victory Arch, National D-Day Memorial, Bedford, Virginia. Dedicated 2001. Credit: Edwina Dickson, Sabyron Industries, Roanoke, Virginia. Opposite, Four Freedoms Memorial, Troy, Michigan. Dedicated 1948. The memorial is topped by a symbolic stone figure of Earth with representations of human beings. All of this is supported by figures of American fighting men. Credit: Marty and Jacob Bodnar. Four Freedoms Memorial, Evansville, Indiana. Dedicated 1976. Each of the columns contained the name of one freedom. However, the memorial builders of Evansville revised Franklin Roosevelt’s words so that “freedom from want,” a direct link to the New Deal welfare state, did not appear and was replaced by “freedom from oppression.” Credit: Adryan Dillon. Scenes from dedication of Bataan Memorial, Janesville, Wisconsin, 1948. Note the mix of symbols: a tank, the names of the local men who died and those who returned, and wreaths of mourning. Credit: The Rock County Historical Society, Janesville, Wisconsin. Bataan Memorial, Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Dedicated 1961. The tank reflected the idea of the brave stand local men made on Bataan against a superior enemy force. Next to the tank, not depicted in the photo, is a list of the men who returned home and those who did not. Credit: author. Bataan Memorial, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Dedicated 2002. The aesthetics of this monument refuse to depict the war in inspirational terms and retain the legacy of su=ering endured by local men. Credit: Erin Michelle Photography, Tucson, Arizona. “Tayabas Trenches.” Artistic rendition from memory of American prisoner su=ering in the Philippines by former POW Ben Steele. Used with permission of Ben Steele. Opposite, Grieving parents hold folded American flag in aftermath of losing a son in World War II. This image is part of the 50th Anniversary World War II Memorial, Omaha. Dedicated 1995. Credit: Photo courtesy of John Lajba, sculptor. Heroic image of a Tuskegee Airman at the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. A plaque on the base of the memorial notes that these African American flyers “rose from adversity” to “set a standard few will transcend.” Credit: Blue Fox Photography, Colorado Springs. Etta Compton’s memorial wreath to the African American dead in the Lee Street riots of 1942, Alexandria, Louisiana. Photo, 2007. Credit: author. Gunda Borgstrom weeps as she recalls her four sons during their reburial in 1948 in Tremonton, Utah. Credit: Photo from Life Magazine, licensed for use by Getty Images to author (50774295). ...