Wesley Bolin Plaza, Phoenix, Arizona

The Wesley Bolin Plaza is a part of the Arizona Capitol ground. Bolin is a former governor who was only governor for five months in 1977-1978 (he died in office) after serving twenty-eight years as the Arizona Secretary of State.

As I approached, the first thing I saw was an anchor from the USS Arizona. The memorial has the names of those who died when the Arizona was sunk during the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. 

USS Arizona Anchor Memorial

Right past the anchor is the World War II Memorial, flanked by two battleship guns with a mast from the USS Arizona.

WWII Memorial

The Arizona Fallen Firefighter and Emergency Paramedics Memorial is a large, round space with a lot of names and a variety of statues.

Arizona Fallen Firefighter and Emergency Paramedics Memorial

The Arizona Silent Service Submarine Memorial is quite dramatic. And, apparently, off limits. What's with the fence?

Arizona Silent Service Submarine Memorial

The Arizona Law Enforcement K9 Memorial is dedicated to animals that died in the line of duty.

K9 Memorial

The Arizona Peace Officer Memorial is a striking tribute to law enforcers from a long time ago. He definitely looks like he's from the territorial days.

Arizona Peace Officer Memorial

Side view

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has several stages, including a statue of soldiers, a map of the country, and a memorial listing those from Arizona who died.

Vietnam Soldiers

Map and Memorial

Nearby is the Father Albert Braun O.F.M. Statue. Braun was a missionary in New Mexico and Arizona. He served as a chaplain in World War I and again in World War II. In the Phillipines, he was a prisoner of war for 40 months. He received the Purple Heart and two Silver Stars. He returned to Arizona where he worked with the tribes and with the Hispanic community in Phoenix. The Mescalero Apache tribe wanted to bury his body on their land when he died.

Fr. Albert Braun Statue

The Desert Storm Memorial commemorates a more recent conflict and those who fought in it.

Desert Storm Memorial

Average people are memorialized too! Pioneer women and Arizona Workers both have memorials dedicated to them.

Pioneer Women

Arizona Workers

Across 17th Avenue is the Capitol Building with a few more memorials.

Capitol

Lt. Frank Luke Jr. Memorial Statue is dedicated to the Arizona World War I fighting ace. He had eighteen aerial victories, second only to Eddie Rickenbacker. The bird on his head would not fly away. I guess aviators stick together?

Frank Luke Jr. Memorial

Copies of the Liberty Bell were given to all the states during World War II as a way to inspire people and to raise war bond money. The Arizona bell is proudly on display just in front of the Capitol.

Liberty Bell

Movie Review: 1917 (2019)

1917 (2019) co-written and directed by Sam Mendes

Two soldiers during World War I are tasked to get a message to an advanced British unit. The unit thinks the Germans are beating a hasty retreat. Aerial reconnaissance has shown that the Germans have only strategically retreated and are ready to wipe out the advancing British force. One of the soldiers has a brother in the unit about to charge into death. He is highly motivated to cross through no-man's land to deliver the message before the assault next morning. The movie follows the two soldiers, almost in real time, as they race to save a battalion and a brother.

The movie is famous for the editing gimmick where the whole film looks like one continuous shot. The technical achievement is impressive. The set-up is reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan and the movie follows the "boots on the ground" view of the conflict. The detail is rich, with long travels through the bunkers on both sides (the Germans really did do a much better construction job) and, more importantly, the harrowing impact of World War I on the countryside and the people involved. The style does result in some drawn out scenes that I found a little slow and repetitive. The two guys do a lot of walking around craters full of water and death, maybe a bit too much. The single-edit decision makes stuff like that inevitable. Even so, I found the movie enjoyable.

Recommended.

Book Review: Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence

Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T. E. Lawrence

T. E. Lawrence was a British officer assigned to help the Arabs fight against the Turks during World War I (he's the titular Lawrence of Arabia, for those who have seen the film). This book is his chronicle of the two-year campaign known as the Arab Revolt. Under his advice, the Arabs, led by Emir Faisal, waged more of a guerrilla war against the Turks, cutting supply lines (typically rail lines) and outmaneuvering the enemy. The campaign was highly successful, ending in the conquest of Damascus in October 1918 and the establishment of an independent Arab state.

The book is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the story of the military actions is told in excruciating detail, with every trip through desert described lovingly by Lawrence. With over 600 pages of text, the places start to blur together. The moments of action are exciting but all the traveling back and forth takes its toll on the reader. The book would definitely benefit from editing on this front.

On the other hand, Lawrence is a fascinating character and he's honest enough to show his good and bad aspects. He clearly loves the Arab people and wants them to form their own independent country. He dresses like them and is often mistaken for an Arab. He also has contempt and arrogance toward the Turks, almost to the point of racism. The political intrigue among the various Arab tribes and with the British command (which was more or less supportive) shows their personalities, always through Lawrence's lens. He also has doubts about his mission. He sees himself at times as a guiding light for the Arabs and at other times as a fake who can't possibly succeed. His adoption of Arab dress and customs occasionally makes him feel like a hypocrite, desiring the Arabs to have independence while he has to lead them to that independence.

While parts of the book are great, they are separated by a lot of descriptions of traveling in the desert/mountains/valleys. I'm usually against abridging books but this book would definitely benefit by being shorter.

Recommended for the character study of Lawrence and some insight into the period and the events of the Arab Revolt. I think the movie is just as good--even at an almost four hour running time, it's still quicker than this book.

Book Review: We'll Never Tell Them by Fiorella de Maria

We'll Never Tell Them by Fiorella de Maria

This novel tells the stories of two women, Kristjana and Liljana. Liljana is the illegitimate daughter of a mostly crazy woman living on Malta at the end of 1800s. Liljana's childhood is hard because of her unstable home life which makes complications in her school life. Her mother is finally taken away and Liljana begins the life of a Dickensian orphan, becoming an unwanted servant in an upper-middle class household. That situation goes poorly thanks to the shrewish woman of the house. She unjustly accuses Liljana of steal a book from their library. Liljana is carted off to the police where she is horribly abused in the hopes of getting her to sign a confession. The husband shows up and realizes how much trouble she is in and goes to save her. He and a doctor decide to send Liljana off to an English boarding school where she'll have a chance at a good education and a better life. Things go better (or as well as they can at an English boarding school) until World War I breaks out. Liljana becomes a nurse and winds up at a hospital in Malta, where she meets a patient she truly loves.

The other woman, Kristjana, is also Maltese and lives in modern-day England. Her boyfriend accepts a position at an American university. She's not happy with that or how her life is going in general, so she decides to run away. She quits her job, throws away her cell phone, and gets on a flight to Jerusalem. There she works as a nurse to cover her expenses and she meets Leo, the 90-something year-old son of Liljana. Leo is dying of cancer and needs someone sympathetic to care for him. The head nurse naturally connects two Maltese people. Leo tells the story of his mother to Kristjana. She is tempted to wallow in the century-old story rather than deal with her own problems.

The two women make an interesting comparison. Liljana is swept along by events but her quiet reserve belies her steely resolve--she tries to hide her mother's madness from the other school children and she resolutely refuses to sign the confession. A lot of things happen to her but she still has her own will. Kristjana seems more willful and in control--she drops everything to go off on her own. But she has no real plan and is ready enough to fade passively into the crowds of Jerusalem and into Liljana's story rather than determine her own life. The boyfriend reaches out through email but she only checks it once in a while and doesn't know how to respond. Not a lot happens to her and she struggles to find what she should do.

The book does a wonderful job depicting the horrors of World War I, and not just the madness of the battlefields. The hard life back home and in the hospitals is fascinating. Liljana is an interesting character and her journey from an unloving start is always interesting if not always happy.

This book was given to me as a review copy in e-book format by Ignatius Press. All they asked for in return was a review. The opinions expressed are my own.