The battlefield cross memorial controversy in Milford, Michigan has come to an end. Village council members were deluged with input from local citizens and veterans groups after the military memorial was banned from the local park.
Milford Village Council members encountered a full house during the recent meeting to discuss the battlefield cross memorial. The traditional fallen soldiers memorial consists of a mock M16 rifle pointing into replica military boots, helmet, and dog tags.
The Milford battlefield cross memorial began earlier this month when the proposal to erect the statue honoring fallen soldiers near an existing veterans’ memorial was met with opposition by some members of the Michigan village council. Milford is located in the Detroit area. The battlefield cross fallen soldier memorial was proposed by the Milford Friends of American Veterans Chairman Bear Hall.
As previously reported by the Inqusi tr, Bear Hall asked the Milford Village Council and Recreation Commission for permission to erect the approximately 4-foot-tall battlefield cross mounted on a 4-foot base near the veterans’ memorial. Hall said the Milford elected officials told him that the traditional military symbol would not be “appropriate” as a centerpiece in the park.
The Michigan man had this to say about the Milford officials denial of the battlefield cross placement.
“There was some concern from a couple of members regarding the specific memorial that’s proposed. Specifically, the gun. They understood the history and meaning of it; they just didn’t feel it was appropriate for that specific location.”
“Being a veteran, I want to see a monument there, yes,” Milford Councilman Tom Nader said during an interview with the Detroit Free Press about the battlefield cross memorial, “I just don’t think this is the proper one.” Fellow Milford Village Council member Jennifer Frankford disagreed with Nader. “If it wasn’t for the boots and the gun and the helmet, we wouldn’t have all the freedoms we have,” Frankford said.
“They used a gun, a pair of boots and a helmet just like the memorial that we are trying to set up,” Milford resident Frank Kidd, who lost his son in Iraq eight years ago, said during the council meeting about the fallen soldiers memorial.
After the Michigan village council members heard from the veterans group, veterans, and military family members that raised all the funds to pay for the battlefield cross statute, they decided to approve the memorial. Friends of American Veterans raised about $12,000 for the memorial in about 90 days. Many of the donations for the veterans’ memorial came Milford businesses, Hall said.
“To deny the statue is to deny the truth about war, to deny our history and to deny our children the opportunity to ask meaningful questions as it relates to both,” Bear Hall said after the Milford Village Council meeting.
What do you think about the Milford, Michigan battlefield cross fallen soldiers memorial debate and the council decision?
[Image via: Shutterstock.com ]
