Punishment That Matches The Crime

Vandals strike Crystal City memorial to soldier killed in Iraq

http://www.stltoday.com

The Associated Press

CRYSTAL CITY, Mo. –

Police in Crystal City are looking for the vandals who damaged the bronze memorial to a soldier killed in Iraq. The statue of a pair of boots, rifle and helmet honors Sgt. Brandon Wallace. He was killed last April by a roadside bomb. The sculpture was dedicated in September.

Vandals broke the rifle and helmet off of the base of the memorial and stuffed them in bushes. A welder has volunteered to fix the monument.

A reward for the capture of the vandals has reached more than $1,600.

Punishment That Matches The Crime

Last week someone or some group of “people” defaced a memorial to Sgt. Wallace. Not only did they deface it, but the cost of the damages of this monument was somewhere in the neighborhood of $4000. I think anyone in their right mind would be saddened if not disgusted by this news. I am glad that there are a few community organizations who have offered reward money for the arrest and conviction of these “people”. I wish I could contribute to that fund. But since I can’t, what I would like to do is offer my suggestion to whoever ends up sitting across from these “people” once they are caught.

I served in the military when the draft was still in force. I recall serving alongside a few soldiers who were given a choice. Either voluntary service in the military or jail as a means of retribution for whatever offenses they had perpetrated. This of course was not conducive to the military and is now no longer practiced with the all volunteer Army. But we still have “boot camp” style programs ranging from drug abuse to juvenile repeat offenders. So there is some evidence that these programs are successful. Maybe an exception to the rule can be made just this once.

Am I advocating that these “people” be shipped off to a 12 month tour in Iraq? You betcha! Will it happen? Probably not. So my idea is this. To the judge, counselor, or probation officer who ends up with these “people” on the other side of their desk is this; How about handing out some community service at the local USO or the Veterans Hospital? Let’s give them something that would make them appreciate just what Sgt Wallace and others like him sacrificed for us. Maybe a chance for them to ponder why any veterans’ memorial is trivial to what the cost of freedom actually is and why we Americans hold such memorials as sacred. Oh yeah and please make it long enough for that to sink in, say maybe 2 years 5 months and 11 days (the time I served overseas) would be a good time period to pick. I think that would suit me just fine.

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