Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-09
SOLDIERS OWN MEMORIALS
MARK BATTLES In FRANCE
Crude and Humble Markers, Built by
Men, Often Under Fire, Falling
Into Ruin.

cans IN Paris nave assumed the DUTY
Of seeing that the funds Of the soldier
associations are properly expended.
Fortunately, also, certain natives Of
France have assumed the work a.
labor Of love.
In the little town Of Doulcon resides
Emile Bavalle, in whose garden, close
to the road, is one Of these monuments.
The monument is M. Bavalle's pride.
Annually he paints 1t. When his now
lerS are in bloom, there are wreaths upon
the stone. The very plate Is polished.
In the official records this monument
Is reported as being Gin good condo
tion," and as long rs Emile Bavalle Il
alive it viii continue to be In good
condition.
Another monument at Rrieulles. near
Verdun, stands at the roadside near
the tiny house Of the railroad guard.
Between the passing of trains this
crossing-tender has found time to keep
the pyramid intact, the inscription pol
ished and the machine guns freshly
painted.
Former Mayor . Caretaker.
Where such devoted personal atten-
ton has been lacking 1t has been nee
eSsary to employ outside help. A for
mer mayor of the little town Of Muir
vaux, liberated from the Germans by
the advancing Americans. earns q few
monuments which are near his home.
Unfortunately, he Is getting on in years,
and one Of the monuments, while NOM
inally under his care, is inaccessible to
him.
There another problem presents itself.
Battles are not always fought In &C
cessible locations. Some Of the most
gonne drive took place in almost I'M
penetrable thickets. Occasionally ar
ttllery IRE left q clear spot where 1t
seemed fitting to erect q monument.
But the forest has steadily been grow.
ing back. One such location Is on
cially reported as now being "overgrown
with bushes and hidden by weeds" A
tale Of neglect, of heroic deeds forgot
ten and unpleasantly suggestive Of .
duty unperformed.
The "a wartime monuments are
credited to the following units: LIST
Division, Z; I'd Division, %; Sd Division,
i: 4th Division, 8; 5th Division, %.
27th Division, 2; 5th Corps, 1.
Commission Urged Protection.
There is one body now In existence
which has the staff to maintain these
monumnts in a creditable condition
that Is the American Battle Monuments
Commission. It has, however, neither
authority nor funds to. carry on the
l WOkA. III 4O1O ~ ACRO1 UC0 do 4OnOWGs
1.-THE majority Of the memorials
erected by Americans In Europe prior
to the creation Of the commission are
now in a more or less unsightly con-
dition and need attention, due to the
disintegration of the materials used In
their construction, mechanical injuries.
the growth Of weeds and vegetation
about them or the accumulation Of rub
bish In the vicinity.
"As the appearance of all such me-
MORALS reflects upon the people Of the
United States as q whole, the commits
sion believes it would be unfortunate II
the conditions referred to above should
continue. The question Of maintenance
Of existing American memorials has
been seriously considered O number Of
times, and the commission Is on record
as favoring Government care Tor such
Of these memorials as In its opinion
are worthy Of preservation. To secure
such maintenance new legislation viii
be required from Congress"
Some Memorials Mutilated.
Elsewhere the commission has re-
ported: 1.-THE American monuments al
ready erected on the battlefeldg caused
the commission considerable concern, as
various questions referring to them were
constantly brought to its attention. Re
ports were received that most OF them
l nCCuC0 CdIC du0 ICRdnos NOA1C ANU
been badly muttlated, and others were
interfering with the owner of the land
upon which they were placed. With
view to settling the questions involved,
each monument was examined, photo
graphs were taken and copies Of the In
scrtptions made.
"These temporary monuments are a
great problem, due to the fact that they
had been constructed soon after the
operations by the men who had actually
done the fighting. This gave them
historical interest and sentimental ap-
peal that were lacking i'll the other
monuments. The problem was accent
uated because no arrangements have
been made for the use Of the ground
upon which they are placed, no steps
have been taken to insure their care.
with a view of insuring that monu-
| mentS erected on the battlefleldS In Ein
rope are properly maintained, the COM
mission passed the following resolution:
Resolved, That efforts should be
made by the commission to secure leg
islation authorizing and directing the
War Department to maintain and repair
all American memorials in the battle
areas of Europe, which have been or
may later be oficially approved by the
American Battle Monuments Commits
SION"
Ely FavOrS Legislation.
Our Government is now completing q
number of elaborate and worthy war
memorials abroad. Compared with these
magnificent undertakings, the battle
monuments OF the common soldier are
humble and crude. But they are his.
Little will he care for new memorials II
the existing ones are allowed to disinte-
CRATE.
Maj. Gen. Hanson Ely writes as follows:
II am in favor of legislation that win
provide for Government supervision and
maintenance of the various battle mon
uments that were erected by units Of the
American Expeditfonary Force during
the war. The division that I COM
manded, the 5th, erected % memorials
OF this nature on the battlefields Of
France, each one commemorative an
important engagement in the divisions
history
"The upkeep of these monuments
since the war has fallen upon the yees
Grams of the division, who have done
their best to keep them in good repair,
In spite Of the handicaps Of distances
and lack of funds.
"Other divisions also have erected
wartime monuments, and their prob
lens are similar to ours. It seems I'M
eVtable that, without relief legislation.
these monuments will now cease to exist
Not all OF the monuments In uuea-
ton need be retained, however, as many
are placed in unimportant sites. T7Iis
situation could easily be met by reciucfi18
the number without losing the historical
worth and the inspirational value a
the original monuments.
The problem IS not one Of creatinG
new memorials, but Of preserving ol$
ones. Public sentiment undoubtedly 3
opposed to the disappearance OF tf1eie
memorials, 50 familiar to American VI.