Here's how the Southern Gazette writer described the new monument: "The Cenotaph is a tribute to those from all the current and former communities of
Tribute is nice.
And it is a tribute to all the people who served in war and in peacekeeping operations.
Served.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cenotaph as "a monument to someone buried elsewhere, especially one commemorating people who died in a war."
Not served.
Died.
A cenotaph cannot honour veterans. The word comes from the Latin and Greek words for empty tomb. They survived a war or peacekeeping mission, by definition.
While it is a really lovely idea to gather together a list of all the people from Placentia Bay who served in the military at some point, maybe there is a better way to recognise their service - not their death - than erecting a big slab of rock and calling it a cenotaph.
-srbp-