Defaced statue of WWII soldier in Shelbyville, TN
Posted on 10/31/2006 7:17:48 PM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Defaced statue of WWII soldier in Shelbyville, TN
A swastika has been painted on the helmet of the soldier's statue standing over Veterans Memorial Plaza on the south lawn of the Bedford County Courthouse. American Legion Commander Roy Bartlette noticed the vandalism on Monday. "I was up there, laying bricks this morning and I looked up and saw something that didn't look right, so I climbed up on the base to see if it was wet. It wasn't," Bartlette said. "I've called the sheriff about it. That's county property." It took veterans six months to get approval for the statue's placement, he said. Planning, funding and placement of the memorial took more than five years. The statue was unveiled and dedicated this past March.
Anger and sadness were among the immediate reactions to the vandalism. Russ Faxon, the Bell Buckle-based artist who created the bronze statue said he's faced similar situations including paint on his statue of country music legend Chet Atkins in Nashville. Faxon's other statues have been at Calsonic offices here, on the Civic Plaza in Murfreesboro and on Capitol Hill in Nashville. "I'll have to get a solvent to get it off," Faxon said Monday evening as he was returning from a job in Nashville, planning to go look at the statue that night. "It has to be dealt with delicately." The artist indicated one removal method could be to brush the swastika with a solvent to soften the paint and then dab it with a rag. "It's a slow process," Faxon said. "You don't scrub it."
That would remove the patina, the greenish stain applied to the bronze. Scrubbing could leave a shiny, bronze place on the front of the helmet. "It's despicable" said Wilburn Hastings, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post here. "It shows us what some people think. Those boys over there are fighting ... so we can express our own thoughts, but they don't have to do this. "The big problem is I can't express what I think in the paper," he said refraining from voicing a few choice words which probably wouldn't be printed here. "I'm going to see if I can muster up a reward," Hastings said. "I'd love for somebody to turn them in." And he has another idea about what kind of person committed such vandalism.
"Some parent should be really proud," he said sarcastically, "that their kid would do something like that. I'd hate to think I had a kid who'd do something like that when our soldiers are out there fighting for us." Jim and Priscilla Gaulden attended the dedication of the monument on March 11. She said that during the event she received a memento from the day, a ruler with a drawing of the monument and remembers the large crowd that was so big she could hardly get close to see the statue. Jim Gaulden said that at first he thought the swastika was "part of the camouflage" on the soldier's helmet. Vietnam veteran Robby Scroggins, 63, of Union Street, was another one of the people walking past the monument Monday afternoon. Many have done so recently with early voting being conducted in the courthouse. Asked for his opinion of the vandalism, Scroggins replied: "It's awful. I'd hate for my daddy to see this. He fought the Germans in World War II. He was in Italy when I was born. He also fought in North Africa."
As for what should be done with the culprit if one is caught, Scroggins said, "I'd like to get him alone for a little while." It was unclear whether the swastika was painted with a brush or spray paint. Courthouse custodian Janyce Adcock said she wouldn't touch it so that Faxon could deal with it. "I didn't think people could be so cruel," Adcock said. "It's terrible. It's a disgrace, as hard as people worked on it." Veterans Memorial Plaza is a result of a huge effort by the Bedford County community. Veterans, their friends and relatives contributed money for the monument buy purchasing engraved bricks to: commemorate military service men and women lost to war; honor those who returned; remember military service; provide support for the effort; and to pave the plaza. Bricks are still being added to the plaza. Some are new. Some are replacing bricks with typographical errors.
The United Veterans Council of Bedford County received the donations, organized the design of the plaza and has been overseeing its creation and continued care. "I hope they catch who did it," said Elvera Smith of Earl Smith Road near Wartrace who reacted when hearing of the vandalism. "I don't know if it's a federal offense, but it's going to make some people sad. "They probably did it as a prank," Smith said, "but they don't know how much it will hurt people." Bedford County Circuit Court Clerk Thomas Smith said that last week a defendant convicted of vandalism was ordered to pay a $50 fine, court costs and restitution which, in that case, amounted to $500. "It's a sad day when we can't get something up for the men who fought and died for us and then some illiterate person would deface it," Smith said.
I was going to make a Springfield/Shelbyville joke here, but this is unfortunately no laughing matter. Absolutely disgusting. And they managed to ruin a perfectly good Simpsons reference on top of it...
If it was a minor I would make him wear a sign saying I do not even deserve to lick this mans boots as he cleans the statue.
Was John Effin Kerry anywhere nearby?
Was John Kerry spotted in the area?
Great minds...you beat me to it by little over a minute.
I don't know. If you go to the T-G website, you'll see that a French reporter visited the area recently. So, maybe....well, I don't know.
That's not a Nazi swastika, but an ancient tribal one. So it should be easy to find the defacer!
Very sad.
If it was an adult, I say make him wear the unshined boot where the sun doesn't shine. :)
What this perp needs to do is write an essay and EXPLAIN in detail in front of the whole town why he thought it would be a good idea to vandalize this statue.
Democrat was inspired by Kerry, Murtha and Durbin.
....and then pelted with rotten eggs.
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