Not a Done Deal! The Solemn Return of the Reconciliation Memorial
Arlington’s Reconciliation Monument Should Return as a Soldier’s Memorial
Arlington’s Reconciliation Monument Should Return as a Soldier’s Memorial
(But, of course, that is what it always was. - DD)
(Jonathan K. Corrado, Real Clear Defense) - The expected return of Moses Ezekiel’s Arlington monument should not be treated as a partisan trophy or cultural provocation. It should be treated as something more solemn: an opportunity to remember that soldiers, even when divided by cause, uniform, and flag, share a terrible common bond.
They fight. They suffer. They bury friends. Many never return home.
Arlington National Cemetery has announced that the U.S. Army entered an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia to display one of Moses Ezekiel’s historic sculptures at Ezekiel’s burial site, with display expected in 2027 after refurbishment.[1] The same Arlington page notes that the bronze elements of the Confederate Memorial were removed in December 2023 to comply with a congressionally mandated requirement to remove the memorial by January 1, 2024.[2]
That restoration gives the country a second chance to think more carefully. Arlington is sacred ground where the nation remembers the cost of war and the lives of those who gave everything they had. The question of what belongs there should therefore be handled with more care than the usual shouting match over monuments, politics, and public memory.
The monument sculpted by Moses Ezekiel was not merely a political object. It was created by a soldier-artist who personally understood the grief of war. Ezekiel was a Jewish-American sculptor, a Virginia Military Institute cadet, and a veteran of the Battle of New Market. Arlington identifies him as…