Clean 2018

The case and call for cleaning WW1 War Memorials: Home - Clean 2018

H/T Ray Thompson

The only tangible reminder most of us have of this terrible conflict are our war memorials which tend to attract publicity for the right – and wrong – reasons. Heart-warming renovation stories are countered with heart-rending stories of theft of metal plaques, vandalism and other abuse; the latter prompting people to put finger to keyboard, usually to express their disgust. In short, when the chips are down, society, for the most part, cares – and the 2018 Centenary gives us a chance to prove it.

My idea is the creation of a “National War Memorial Restoration Fund” to be used to renovate, where necessary, our war memorials to their original condition by November 2018. The fund would be government (i.e. taxpayers’) money aimed specifically at the necessary structural checks, re-engraving and specialist stone and metal cleaning etc. to counter the 90 years or so of erosion our war memorials have suffered.

Victory Monument Chicago

The first of my monument posts.  This a famous one on Chicago’s Southside.  A blurp below on it via Wikipedia.

The Victory Monument, created by sculptor Leonard Crunelle, was built to honor the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France during World War I. It is located in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 9, 1998. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. An annual Memorial Day ceremony is held at the monument.