Should the War Memorial tell the truth?
Posted on April 25th, 2009 by MichaelToday is ANZAC DAY in Australia.
Today the Chairman of the Board of SOT, Dr Brian Monahan and myself attended ANZAC ceremonies in Melbourne.
There is no IP more precious to the Australian Culture than the story of ANZAC. There is no Aussie meme that has more enduring replicator power than the ANZAC meme.
On ANZAC Day Brian and I had many conversations with diggers from the Vietnam War as well as the other wars that cost Australian lives.
One of the recurring themes amongst talking with war veterans is their despair that their war was never the last war. Why do we still go to war? Why are young Australian men and, in recent years women, too, still coming home in body bags?
In this context I would like to ask the following question: Should the great Australian War Memorial in Canberra tell the truth?
I don’t know what would be the better answer to this question but I do think that it is a question that should not be protected from thinking.
If this question can be asked in Australia then it may also, one day, be asked in other nations around the world.
What if the Australian War Memorial in Canberra told the truth?
I was recently in Canberra and spent a day at the memorial. It’s easily one of the best days any human, Australian or not, can ever invest in their own future.
One of the things that this wonderful place does is to ensure that every Australian who gave his life is remembered.
Lest We Forget.
But the great elephant in the room–in every one of these galleries that are crammed full of certain, but highly sanitised, images of the wars–is that the image you are looking at is nothing remotely like the truth.
All the images are painstakingly edited. Why? For what good reason? For whose benefit? On whose authority?
This is a question that I believe could be well served by greyscale thinking.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
The truth should always be told.
April 27th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Opinion/The-war-we-gatecrashed/2005/04/28/1114635687141.html
April 27th, 2009 at 2:58 am
[...] School of Thinking created an interesting post today on Should the War Memorial tell the truth?Here’s a short outlineToday is ANZAC DAY in Australia. Today the Chairman of the Board of SOT, Dr Brian Monahan and myself attended ANZAC ceremonies in Melbourne. There is no IP more precious to the Australian Culture than ANZAC. There is no meme that has more enduring replicator power than the ANZAC meme. On ANZAC Day Brian and I had many conversations with diggers from the Vietnam War as well as the other wars that cost Australian lives. One of the recurring themes amongst talking with war veterans is their de [...]
April 25th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
[...] Web Design TB put an intriguing blog post on Should the War Memorial tell the truth?Here’s a quick excerptWhy do we still go to war? Why are young Australian men and, in recent years women, too, still coming home in body bags? [...]
April 25th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
[...] School of Thinking added an interesting post on Should the War Memorial tell the truth?Here’s a small excerptToday is ANZAC DAY in Australia. Today the Chairman of the Board of SOT, Dr Brian Monahan and myself attended ANZAC ceremonies in Melbourne. There is no IP more precious to the Australian Culture than ANZAC. There is no meme that has more enduring replicator power than the ANZAC meme. On ANZAC Day Brian and I had many conversations with diggers from the Vietnam War as well as the other wars that cost Australian lives. One of the recurring themes amongst talking with war veterans is their de [...]