Published: May 20, 2009 07:26 am      

RANDOM THOUGHTS: The Teardrop Memorial

Monday we remember those who gave their all in the many wars this country has fought. Officially the holiday is Memorial Day but to many from another generation it was called Decoration Day because the custom originated with gracious ladies of the South. They laid flowers on the graves of both the Confederate and Union soldiers who fell during the Civil War.

At the close of WWII Boston Mayor James Michael Curley began another custom. He began placing signs on streets in Boston. They were called hero squares and bore the name of a nominated veteran. Today there are 1,226 hero squares scattered around the city. In May each of those special signs is decorated with red, white and blue carnations in remembrance of Memorial Day. These signs honor fallen heroes from the Revolutionary War to the Iraq and Afghanistan war.

Our news reports are full of stories from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. All these conflicts began because of 9-11. Recently, an e-mail turned my attention to a story I had never heard which also began with that unforgettable day.

As the news circled the globe a famous Russian sculptor was driving past the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. A large crowd of tearful Russian citizens were gathered in front of the building to express their grief and solidarity with the United States. At that moment in artist Zurab Tsereteli’s mind a tear formed and when he arrived at his office he began to design the sculpture which would honor the thousands who died that day as well as the six who perished in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Later that year he visited the United States looking for the right site. He found the perfect place in a two-acre public park in New Jersey. Harbor View Park on the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor offered a direct view of The Statue of Liberty and the site of the former World Trade Center.

Although Tsereteli knew that time cures everything he believed there are things we cannot and must not forget. Over the next years as work progressed in Russia on the 100-foot tall monument the sculptor said, “It is my hope that this piece and the beautiful park that will surround it will enable people from all over the world to honor the potential that lies in every world citizen to fight evil and foster goodwill.”

On completion the sculpture was assembled by a group of Russian artisans into six sections for shipping by sea. The sections weighed from 28 to 63 tons. Tsereteli spent a number of months in the United States overseeing the final construction. Inside the 100-foot frame a single forty-foot nickel-plated teardrop hangs. Of stainless steel it weighs four tons. An 11-sided memorial base at ground level carries the nearly 3,000 names of the victims of 9-11 etched in granite.

Originally the sculptor named it Tear of Grief but there was some controversy and now it is “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism.” However to view it just Google Teardrop.

On September 11, 2006 a distinguished group met for the dedication. Vladimir Putin was there as was former President Bill Clinton. Leann Rimes sang the National Anthem and Russia’s tribute to the United States was dedicated to the struggle against world terror.

Many Americans are unaware of this tribute. Early this month Andy Rooney said, “The Teardrop Memorial has gone mostly unrecognized.”