State Capitols – Phoenix, Arizona Part 2

Stretching away from the Arizona capitol is the former Legislative Government Mall. Following the death of Governor Bolin after only five months in office, it was renamed the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.

There are upwards of thirty monuments, memorials and dedications, mostly to wars and conflicts and the brave people who sacrificed their lives in service to the country and community. Law enforcement, veterans’ groups, the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments, merchant seamen, pioneer women and crime victims all have an edifice.

Lt. Frank Luke jr. Monument, by Roger Burnham [1930]

Arizona Capitol, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Lt. Luke was just twenty and one of our most accomplished pilots when he was shot down in 1918. Beneath the dashing hero, the base holds the names of hundreds of Arizona men who paid the ultimate price in the ‘War to End all Wars.’

Arizona Confederate Troops Memorial [1961]

Wesley Bolen Memorial Plaza, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Memorial to

Arizona Confederate Troops

1861 – 1865

United Daughters of the Confederacy

1961

The Confederate Troops Memorial identifies the entire span of the Civil War and neglects to note that the occupation by rebel troops and local sympathizers lasted only eight months. Below three sections of petrified wood is this ironic statement...”A nation that forgets its past has no future.” Ironic because those who most believe we are erasing the noble, valiant history of the American South also try make it illegal to teach the parts about slavery and Jim Crow oppression. Five years after this photo was taken, the monument was removed.

‘Guns to the Fallen’ [2013],

Wesley Bolen Memorial Plaza, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

One of the more impressive installations includes the anchor and signal mast from the USS Arizona. The memorial to the 1902 Arizona citizens killed in the war includes one of the big guns from that battleship and one from the USS Missouri, the scene of the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Navajo Code Talkers Memorial [2008],

Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Finally, I’ll include a shot of a deserving group that made a big difference in our WW II effort in the Pacific. Because the Navajo language represented an unbreakable code to the Japanese, soldiers from the tribe served to transmit critical messages across the theater. I know. You might rightfully say that ALL who served and sacrificed deserve recognition. Thing is, back when certain groups joined in the fight to save the country, those same groups continued to have a hard time at home. Black servicemen were not allowed to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery and non-Whites were denied recognition by the military establishment. Why? “We don’t give medals to Negroes, Jews and other non-White races.”

Thankfully, we’re more WOKE than that now...so far.