Veterans' Day Vandals Touch a Nerve

[unhappycamper]

Veterans' Day Vandals Touch a Nerve

By DAVID VON DREHLE/KANSAS CITY Tue Nov 13, 2:20 PM ET

Almost as soon as Ann and Don Bender marked the 4th of July by planting a field of more than 3,500 flags - one for each of the American troops killed in Iraq - the elements began to take a toll. The baking sun and sudden storms of a Great Plains summer left the little flagsticks warped and broken and the fabric bleached and torn.

But that was nothing compared to the damage done in the dark hours of Sunday morning by vandals who kicked down thousands of the flags and left behind a cardboard sign with a single word splattered in red spray paint: "MURDERERS."

"You'll have to excuse me, sir, for crying," said a big bear of a man named Andy Enders as he stood by the remains of what had been "the most beautiful memorial ever created by private citizens, in my opinion."

Other veterans and passersby were busy picking up fallen flags, piling up Old Glorys by the hundreds, smoothing the flags, stacking the stomped sticks and wondering what will be salvaged of the display that has moved and intrigued this town for months.

Its power lay in its simplicity. The Benders live on six tree-shaded acres along one of Kansas City's main thoroughfares, called State Line Road because it marks the boundary between Missouri and Kansas. Thousands of drivers pass their home each day. In the long stretch of grass between the road and their white rail fence, they placed flags to mark the rising toll of the war, with a hand-printed sign at each end of the field displaying the total. On Sunday, the signs said 3,860.

Ann, 51, and Don, 49, oppose the war. But their memorial was open to all sorts of interpretations, as is evident from the stack of thank you notes that the Benders have collected. "I'm not sure if your display is to say thank you to the men and women who are serving our country," one Air Force veteran wrote, "or if it's intended to bring attention to the audacity and stupidity of our elected leaders." One woman pulled into the driveway bearing a photograph of her nephew, killed in action the day before. Another day, a Marine in uniform got out of his car to stand at attention and salute. Another day, the phone rang and Ann heard a woman on the line announce, "My son is one of those flags."


Rest of article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20071113/us_time/veteransdayvandalstouchanerve

[sam sarrha]

1. mo points to ReThugs ...

[NYVet]

2. I say ignorant kids who don't know any better (NT)

[zbdent]

3. and most displays of tiny white crosses on Catholic Church properties

go unmolested ... when they do, it's likely by parishoners who want the attention to the whole thing ...