Larry Anderson is a Vietnam Veteran. I’ve (host Tom Schultz) known and admired him for decades. He was also a former Missoula city council member and Missoula county commissioner, and served on the staffs of U.S. Senator Conrad Burns and U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg. He spoke at the annual 911 memorial service in Missoula, where he reminded us all that “a nation that forgets its past has no future,” (Winston Churchill). Below are excerpts of his speech.
Listen to today’s Voices podcast as Larry talks about his memorial address, the importance of remembering events in the context of history, and the struggle to erect a veterans memorial in Missoula. (Photo Credit: David Mark)
911
We are gathered here to remember the greatest attack on the US mainland since the war of 1812. It cost the lives of nearly 3,000 US citizens who were just going about their daily lives. This attack occurred 18 years ago and I am concerned that if it weren’t for events like this one here today we will be slowly erasing this from our collective memory. So I would like to thank all of you that join us in remembering those who have fallen victim to terrorists both foreign and domestic.
The attacks that have occurred since 911 are periodic reminders that if we erase these events from our collective memory we do so at our own peril. If you were three years old when 911 occurred you would be twenty one today. Did you spend any time learning about this in HS social studies or history class? Was there an event at the college you are attending to commemorate this vicious attack? Probably not.
There are groups today that think we should eliminate those reminders of things they do not agree with, but what do we lose in that process? Take Charlottesville for instance. The attempt to tear down the statue of Robert E. Lee, because some people believe he was a racists made national headlines for weeks. One innocent person lost their life in that incident. The killer has been brought to justice.
In my opinion, that statue, like so many monuments and memorials, represent a snapshot of that persons’ life. It doesn’t tell the full story. We have to put it into historical perspective. I don’t believe the Statue of Robert E. Lees told the story of his attending the US Military Academy at West Point and receiving his commission as an officer in the Union Army. The plaque didn’t mention that one of his early combat missions was to lead a troop of union soldiers and Marines to Harpers Ferry, VA to retake the Military Arsenal back from John Brown and his band of Abolitionists. The inscription on the Statue didn’t reveal that when he was asked to lead the Confederate Army by CSA President Jefferson Davis, he knew if he said yes he would be facing many of his former graduates from West Point in Battle. Think of what a horrendous decision it was for him to make to switch sides. However, he felt he could not lead troops against his home state of Virginia. I don’t believe the statue mentioned that his family’s former estate is now the National Cemetery at Arlington, VA. A decision that prevented him and his family from returning to his family home.
I don’t believe the people wanting to tear down that statue had any idea of the feelings and emotions of that time in history. The Civil War was the greatest challenge to our United States, that conflict tore apart families and long held relationships. The civil war cost hundreds of thousands of lives of our nation’s fellow Countrymen. Yet, it set the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. We can’t judge past events by today’s standards because we don’t always understand how we arrived where we are today. History shows us the path and it is not always pleasant.
What if the people in Missoula who protested against the Vietnam War decided we should remove the Statue behind me? As a Vietnam Combat Veteran and a member of the committee that built that memorial I know we would lose far more than the Bronze Struc
