Monday, May 25, 2009

Remembering the Veteran on Memorial Day

"The Supreme Sacrifice"
Oak Grove Cemetery
230 Playstead Road
Medford, Mass.

This statute of an American Doughboy, entitled "The Supreme Sacrifice", is dedicated to those Americans from Medford who lost their lives in the First World War. The soldier is holding his arms out as in the manner of a cross and is looking up towards the sky. Unlike most statues of this kind the soldier is not holding a weapon. The statues creator, Emilius R. Ciampa (1896-1996) was born in Italy but grew up in Boston's North End.

The bronze statue overlooks the headstones of the Medford Veterans of that long ago war, arranged in neat rows with American flags marking every grave. All of our Veterans of the First World War are gone now, just as in the not too distant future, all of the Veterans of the Second World War will also be gone. That last great war in Europe ended in May 0f 1945 and we owe the men and women who fought in those wars and have kept the peace since then a great debt. Especially those who made the supreme sacrifice.

No comments: