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December 4, 2009

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Letter: World War II memorial too late for many veterans

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

It brings to mind another memorial. In the early 1990's I got a letter from Pierre Salinger about erecting a memorial to those who participated in the D-Day 1944 landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy France.

Tens of thousands of vets or their families received the same letter and for a 40 dollar donation, a "Wall of Liberty" would be erected at the veterans cemetery there, with the name of every one who landed there engraved on the granite wall. The certificate of registration was endorsed by Rep. Sam Gibbons and Sen. Strom Thurmond. After the money was collected, which was probably in the millions, it went bankrupt.

Where the money went, nobody knows.

Which brings me to this memorial.

My first question is why did it take so long? Every Memorial Day people flock to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.

If we had built a memorial to those that died in WWII at the same configuration and size as the Vietnam Memorial, it would have been 7 times longer.

I have a feeling this one is going to go the way of the one in Normandy. But if it should be erected (they are kidding when they say the year 2000) it will be to late for those who it is in honor of.

Bob Breslof

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