War Memorial - Types

Types

  • A war memorial can be an entire building, often containing a museum, or just a simple plaque. Many war memorials take the form of a monument or statue, and serve as a meeting place for Memorial Day services. As such, they are often found near the centre of town, or contained in a park or plaza to allow easy public access.
  • Many war memorials bear plaques listing the names of those that died in battle. Sometimes these lists can be very long. Some war memorials are dedicated to a specific battle, while others are more general in nature and bear inscriptions listing various theatres of war.
  • Many war memorials have epitaphs relating to the unit, battle or war they commemorate. For example an epitaph which adorns numerous memorials in Commonwealth countries is "The Ode" by Laurence Binyon:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
  • The Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College of Canada, which remembers ex-cadets who died on military service includes lines of Rupert Brooke's poem, The Dead:
Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead.
There are none of these so lonely and poor of old,
But dying has made us rarer gifts than gold.
  • Living memorials. In the years following the end of World War 1 a heated debate occurred in the United States as to whether memorials should be the standard sort that were created after the Civil War or a more progressive sort of "living memorials." These consisted of bridges, parks, libraries, playgrounds, community centers, civic auditoriums and athletic fields. Examples include Soldier Field and Veterans Stadium.
  • The Memorial Flag of the Royal Military College of Canada consisted of a Union Jack on a background adorned with 1100 green maple leaves bearing name of ex-cadets who served in war. The red maple leaves in centre memorialized cadets who made the supreme sacrifice. The Memorial Stairway in the administration building is lined with paintings of ex-cadets who died on military service, which is visited by about 1,000 people each year. The Royal Military College of Canada Gentlemen cadets Roll of Honour remembers ex-cadets who died on military service.
  • The granite slab at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, which is a World War II War Memorial, which remembers ex-cadets who died on military service, includes the Bible 2 Timothy 4:6–8 (King James Version) quote,
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
  • The Kohima Epitaph which is on the World War II War Memorial for the Allied fallen at the Battle of Kohima says:
When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

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