Getting the words right

“I Was A Drum Major For Justice, Peace and Righteousness” was inscribed into the base of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial. It was the last straw in a series of controversies and the pompous phrasing (the full quote is from a speech called “The Drum Major Instinct” deriding the attention-seeking antics of some leaders) botched the original which was: “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”  Removing the inscription cost $900,000.

Reflecting "Pool of Rememberance" at Korean War Memorial lays before a stone wall into which the words "Freedom Is Not Free" are carved.  In the original design, visitors were to walk through a phalanx of 38 statues of soldiers towards an American flag.  After a lawsuit in which the original designers dropped out, visitors now walk around the soldiers and the flag is absent.

Maintenance man at the atrocious WWII monument seemingly designed by Albert Speer after a Nazi victory.  I asked him for his name and he replied, "Just say 'a loyal employee.'"