City leaders in Milford, Mich., are trying to decide where and of what a new Fallen Soldiers monument should consist. The good news is that some level of civility has broken out: The usual heated acrimony appears not to have stalked the entire disagreement. Size and location are being sensibly negotiated.
Less logical are the discussions of content. The 8-foot-tall memorial would consist principally of the “battlefield cross”: a sculpture of the boots, rifle and headgear of a fallen soldier. A tradition since at least the Civil War, it’s the rifle, of course, that is the sticking point. “Specifically, the gun,” said Milford Village Manager Christian Wuerth.
This aesthetic delicacy seems ever more common (as well as absurd) to A1F, and mercifully, some Milfordians agree. Councilwoman Jennifer Frankford captured it best: “If it wasn’t for the boots and the gun and the helmet, we wouldn’t have all the freedoms we have.” Tyranny and aggression are not restrained, after all, merely with stern language.
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