August 10, 2007
by Keith Simerson

"We do not show our heroes maimed."

Something about that comment just did not set well with me. It sounded a bit too arrogant.

Until reading that brief yet pointed confession, I had never given the subject much thought. But after some contemplation I found the remark not only true but probably more revelatory than most of us care to admit about our personal and collective view of history.

The remark in question was made recently by sculptor Jon Hair and reported by the Washington Post in an editorial. The story was about the public outcry concerning Hair's 24 foot, four ton bronze sculpture that was recently unveiled honoring Christopher Newport, the famed captain of the Susan Constant, largest of the three ships that carried the founding settlers to Jamestown in 1607.

The outcry about this monumental scale sculpture was not because the people did not want it at the university that bears his name in Newport News, Va. or because it was an architectural eyesore or because it cost too much. No, those were not the concerns. The concern was that the statue represented him with both his arms intact instead of the prosthetic right arm hook that he sported for much of his adult life after losing that arm in a battle with the Spanish. Even the fourth graders in the area are well aware of this fact about the historical sailor, privateer, and adventurer.

So, pray tell, why no hook? Did this historical man's disfigurement cause uneasiness amongst a group of individuals who then decided that the American public needed an altered image, one that would make him a complete physical specimen without flaws? One enraged writer wrote to a local newspaper reminding them that the British had had no hesitation in showing their naval hero, Adm. Horatio Nelson, with his empty sleeve pinned to his coat mounted atop a column in a public sculpture at London's Trafalgar Square for all to see as a result of losing that arm in battle as well.

Since Mr. Hair was commissioned by a private individual and the sculpture was given as a gift to Christopher Newport University that would explain why the university must have went along with the historical inaccuracy.

Matter of fact, if you can't get to Newport News to see this monument a copy has been cast and installed at the entrance to Hair's studio in Cornelius, NC.

It is just as the Washington Post editorial stated, " And so there stands Capt. Newport, a sanitized monument not only to the spirit of discovery and exploration but also to the liberties too easily taken with the past and the dead."

Most of us know the controversy surrounding the FDR Memorial and whether or not to show the wheelchair that he operated in while serving his four terms as President. FDR knew as well as anyone that during his era, disability was not only looked down upon but considered by many to mean "unable". He didn't want his condition to cost him any unnecessary loss of votes thus the wheelchair was hidden as much as possible.

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When President Clinton dedicated the FDR Memorial in 1997, he remarked that whenever we think about Roosevelt we should try to be more like him. He wasn't referring to being ashamed of disabilities but in overcoming them. And finally in 2001, a statue of FDR clearly sitting in his wheelchair was unveiled as part of the memorial, much to the delight of those with disabilities all over our country. They consider that the FDR Memorial is now complete and a stepping stone to their continued progress.

The "bread line" figures at the FDR Memorial also represent the horrible times of The Great Depression and will not make you smile or have happy thoughts. They aren't supposing to. They suppose to remind us of where and what our country and our citizens have endured. The memorial is for introspection and reflection ... even though the loud noises from the 500+ jets per day from National Airport make that silent time difficult to fully enjoy.

But this is a new day and a new time when we the people no longer need to have our monuments sanitized and the horrors of war disguised with an eloquent misleading title that reads "Such and Such War Memorial".

We are past all of that aren't we or do we still turn the channel quickly if we see an image that demands we think longer than two seconds about the carnage that our foreign policies are creating?

Who cares about memorializing a war anyway? If the war was in legitimate self-defense of the nation then shouldn't those veterans be the honored recipients? And shouldn't we select as the sculptor's models the veterans that best represent those periods of war to be those that returned from the battlefield maimed and disfigured? Would that not better assist us in remembering those conflicts that has certainly left a daily reminder to those that have lost limbs as a result of battle? They have to deal with their loss everyday ... why can't our memorials assist us in remembering the price that was paid by many and stop glorifying the conflict itself?

We need to become courageous enough to face reality and stop masquerading important historical facts. Whenever we do that, then we will have taken a giant step toward understanding where we came from and more importantly, where we are going.

At a later time we can use our imagination for other things such as trying to unravel the mystery of whether or not Superman really does possess a hidden super humor or how Spiderman actually gets those webs to come out with such force and accuracy. I know as a young boy I wiled away many hours trying to unlock that superhero secret.

Or better yet, maybe I can convince a committee somewhere that I can design a better superhero of such monumental proportions, that I could make everyone forget about the real Superman.

O.K., O.K., I know ... now I have gone too far.

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Keith Simerson [send him email] is a self-employed foundryman and sculptor as well as an Air Force veteran in the security field.  See his website at www.stonereproductionworks.com, and his blog at www.goodnevilguy.blogspot.com.