War Memorial Vandalized

The damage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, upon which are inscribed the names of over 58,000 men and women who perished or remain missing, was not done during the anti-war demonstration of September 15, but rather ten days ago. At first, police declined to call the damage vandalism, but they are doing so now.

From this September 17, 2007 article in the Washington Post:

The unidentified substance that was found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial earlier this month was the result of vandalism, the U.S. Park Police said today.

Sgt. Robert Lachance, a spokesman for the Park Police, said the investigation into the incident is continuing, but the detective on the case had ruled it an act of vandalism. Lachance said he could provide no more details because the probe is still underway.

The oily substance was first reported to police the evening of Sept. 7, National Park Service officials have said. Dark blotches were found along a stone curb at the base of the memorial for most of its length, and at least two of the wall's panels appeared to have had something splashed on them....

Read the rest.

What kind of loser trashes such a place, a shrine to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice? And why would someone desecrate the wall (as we here in the D.C. refer to the memorial)?

The older I get, the less I think of some of my fellow human beings. And certainly I find that I just don't understand certain of them.

Note: If you have time, you might want to explore The Virtual Wall, a beautiful and reverent site.