Are Lake Saint Louis officials doing right by changing memorial plaques?
A new veterans’ memorial park in Lake Saint Louis is just opening — but opening to controversy. Apparently, part of the planning for Veterans’ Memorial Park included memorial plaques that summarize the wars that the United States has been part of.
Those plaques include sections for “mistakes” and “consequences.” Our story points out:
For example, the “mistakes” portion of the plaque entitled “Global War on Terror, 1997—Present” read, in part: “As of 2007, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars failed to enable viable governments leading to continued guerrilla fighting. The Iraqi Army was quickly crushed but the U.S. disbanded the Iraqi Army and removed civilian government employees belonging to the ruling political party leaving no one to help maintain security or run the country, which was contrary to policy used after WWII in Germany and Japan.”
Under “consequences,” it said: “U.S. was accused of a Crusade against Muslims which caused riots all over the Muslim world. Pakistan became an opportunistic ally of the U.S. in its Afghanistan war. U.S. lost prestige around the world.”
Our story also says, “Ralph Barrale, an Army veteran of World War II, said the text was a collaborative effort among some members of the volunteer committee of veterans. He said he was not offended by the plaques but added the park is not meant to cause controversy.” The committee agreed to remove the plaques and rework the text.
The park will be dedicated May 17. Should the city make changes in the plaques or is the additional text appropriate for a veterans’ memorial?
(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
I think anytime one tries to explain or describe history, someone else will accuse bias. This is more true in current history/curent events. Why can’t they just remain neutral, say ‘War of 1812, 1812-1814″ and leave it at that? If someone visits the memorial and is not familiar with a certain conflict, perhaps they should make a trip to the library right after the visit to the park.