As this letter is dictated the day before the Fourth of July, the three iconic symbols of our nation that come to mind when schoolchildren think of the word “America” are:
- The flag (the stars and stripes that flew over Fort McHenry
- The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
- The U.S. Capitol Building
Note that the Lincoln Memorial precedes the U.S. Capitol. Lincoln made himself a temple for God, and the words above his seated statue inside the memorial are:
IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
The Lincoln Memorial is under attack by those who would rewrite history; by those who would erase and change history; by those who covet the statutory floor upon which to erect monuments to themselves and others.
The head of the Park Service, who has jurisdiction over the Memorial, made a curious statement, that “the purpose of the memorial EVOLVES over the years.” Implicit in this statement is his approval of tunneling under the memorial to install an IMAX-type movie theater on which to tell the story, not only of Lincoln, but also of the entire Civil Rights movement that followed and the people that played an important part in it (movies precede marble statues to individuals).
Yes, it’s important to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement—the water cannons, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and all the leaders including Jesse Jackson, and so many others. This is an important part of our history, but it’s separate and apart from the history of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, who freed the slaves.
There’s no need to tunnel under the Lincoln Memorial, deface it with some modern architectural “improvements,” and perchance cause the entire Memorial itself to topple from the equipment that is right now working in a tunnel they are making for this movie theater—using jackhammers, and possibly dynamite. Note the wooden planking strapped around the columns of the Memorial to prevent these giant heavy stones that are stacked one upon another to make up the columns (think a stack of checkers, that you evened up with your fingers as a child) to keep them from jiggling and wobbling apart. If one column topples over, you have a domino phenomenon of one column after another falling in a circle around the Memorial until there’s nothing but a pile of marble. Where is the Army Corps of Engineers when we need them to check out what a private, inexperienced, and careless contractor is doing? The dear old Park Service has not called them in for a consult because they would kick this contractor with his tunneling and digging equipment out, order everything be put back, and the ground reseeded and left just like it was.
The Army Corps of Engineers would question why on earth the integrity of the foundation of the Lincoln Memorial is being endangered when all you have to do is look across the street, and if you want to put up a movie theater you can do so above ground in the sunshine. There is a large plot of ground of multiple acres within view of the memorial. And, yes, they should put a statutory hall in that museum (a museum, not a temple), and first and foremost they should commission a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. who, right across the street, once gave his “I Have a Dream” speech (the exact spot where he stood is marked on the marble steps).
If our precious, iconic, irreplaceable Lincoln Memorial winds up like the walls of Jericho (“and the walls came tumblin’ down”), yes, this contractor will point out that he has insurance, but all the insurance in the world—even the billions that Lloyd’s of London has—could not begin to compensate for the irretrievable loss of the Lincoln Memorial that took eight years to build in the early 1900s.
If you think the Lincoln Memorial is worth saving for our children, our grandchildren, and our grandchildren’s grandchildren, contact your Congressman and your Senator, and you may send them a copy of this letter.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Rudolph Martin Palmer, Jr., Esq.
P.S.
At least one Park Ranger (he was in charge of the information booth at the Memorial early one morning when it was just he and I having a discussion) told me that he was concerned about a terrorist attack against the Memorial. He told me that, after 9/11, they came and checked everything out and, at that time, they determined that the only access (public access that terrorists could use) was the elevator shaft on the south side and a small area by the elevators where the restrooms are. They determined that a blast set off in that area would not bring down the Memorial, but rather the blast would have to be discharged under the center of the Memorial. He was concerned that right now they’re tunneling and widening the space right up to and including the center of the Memorial and beyond.
You’ve got people flowing across our southern border—some of whom don’t even speak the same language and don’t understand each other—probably working for this construction company (cheap labor). Such that, if they are terrorists from Pakistan and Iran and the like, posing as construction workers, they can take pictures with their cell phones of the undercroft (huge pillars that hold up the memorial that sits 40 feet up in the air)—built on a swamp, dirt backfilled around it to make it appear that it’s sitting on a hill. On their lunch hour, sitting under a shade tree up top, they can send the pictures back to Pakistan and Iran with the click of a button. They could even receive a text back: “Take a tape measure and measure the support columns.”
Can’t you hear President Trump now: “Who the hell let these idiots in there to begin with? They don’t know what they’re doing! They haven’t a clue!”? Whereupon he would sign an executive order that this contractor and his undocumented migrant workers be thrown out immediately, the tunnel they dug backfilled with solid concrete, and everything be restored to its original state, and the grounds reseeded.
After 9/11, there was a concern that ISIS might strike some of the major iconic memorials in our nation, and guards were posted.
The Lincoln Memorial is number one. WE HAVE LET OUR GUARD DOWN!
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