For my KCRW-FM 89.9 “Orange County Line” commentary last week, I talked about the Confederate memorial at the Santa Ana Cemetery. As of that commentary, a group of people vowed to complain to the Orange County Cemetery District that they remove it, and the Cemetery District director actually agreed with the sentiment. I don’t know what, if any action has happened, because the OCCD board meeting happened last Tuesday, and they haven’t put up their meetings and I’m too lazy of a reporter to call for an update. But I’m not lazy enough to publish this Orange Feathers, nor get an artist’s statement from cartoonist Bob Aul:
There are a lot of Germans buried in cemeteries all over the US whose aim it was to kill as many Americans as possible just 75 years ago. And that’s fine. The conflict is over. Reconciliation and forgiveness are wonderful and necessary things. Veterans from both sides form lasting friendships. People did other things in their lives outside the moment of war. But the moment somebody puts up an obelisk somewhere praising the valor of these individuals in the service of the Third Reich is when eyebrows will start going up and down, especially concerning the motives of those doing the putting up. So place yourself in Santa Ana today and ask yourself what a monument is doing there praising the valor of those who fought for the cause of human slavery in a war that ripped the whole country apart, destroyed our cities and killed three quarters of a million people while maintaining the distinction of having only Americans as its victims?
BOOM
