James W. Morrison: Terminate the Stalin bust in Bedford, Virginia
By James W. Morrison
The National D-Day Memorial has grown into a place of inestimable value for America and those here and abroad who want to honor Allied forces on D-Day, 6 June 1944. It is well-conceived, superbly designed, and enriched with inspired statuary and plaques. The memorial is a place to be revered. Few, if any, other memorials can compare to its quality. I feel honored and proud to be able to support the memorial and volunteer there as a tour guide. Other volunteers feel similarly, I am sure.
In this context then, the plan to erect a bust of Joseph Stalin [in Bedford, Virginia] on a pedestal at the memorial has been a source of great dismay for me and others. Erecting a bust of Stalin would be morally and intellectually wrong, offensive to many, and counterproductive to the future of the memorial.
If the Stalin bust is erected, the memorial and Bedford will likely gain the notorious distinction of being the only place in America to display a bust of Stalin. This is a man who ranks with Hitler and Mao as reviled dictators, each responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. This is a man who helped start World War II in Europe and bears varying degrees of responsibility for the deaths of American servicemen in the Cold War, including the Berlin Blockade and Airlift and the Korean War.
In August 2007, a group of fellow American Legionnaires, including Delegate Lacey Putney, and I visited the [The National D-Day Memorial] Foundation’s president to urge him not to erect a bust of Stalin. Two years later we learned through the newspapers that work on the Stalin bust had gone forward and was nearing completion. This announcement has stirred opposition, expressed in the media and to the foundation board and staff.
In recent months, I have campaigned for the foundation to drop its plan for the Stalin bust. I have done so quietly and without approaching the media, hoping that the foundation might drop the plan without there being a lot of adverse, negative publicity. The response—or lack of response—from the foundation now warrants publicity.
In mid-November, I wrote the foundation president, providing a two-page paper with 13 key reasons not to install the bust. The reasons referred to:
- - the perceived honoring of a person whose bust is placed on a pedestal;
- - Stalin’s role in the start of World War II and early German successes;
- - Stalin’s role in the deaths of millions;
- - Stalin’s role in establishing Communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe;
- - Stalin’s responsibility for the Cold War and the deaths of American and Allied servicemen;
- - the incongruity of a Stalin bust with the stated purpose of the memorial;
- - the incongruity of a Stalin bust when there are no statues of D-Day American and Allied airmen and seamen (other than busts of three UK flag officers);
- - the incongruity of a Stalin bust when there are no busts of leaders of the 10 countries whose flags fly at the memorial alongside the US and UK flags;
- - the sensitivities of the Allied Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks whose countries were enslaved in Communism by Stalin;
- - the incongruity of erecting a bust of Stalin when busts of Stalin in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have been torn down;
- - the notorious distinction of displaying probably the only bust of Stalin in America;
- - the likely adverse impact on donations, volunteers, and visitors;
- - the likely adverse impact on the possible takeover of the memorial by the National Park Service.
Receiving no response, I then wrote Senators Mark Warner and Webb, Congressmen Goodlatte and Perriello, Governor Kaine, and members of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors and Bedford City Council, encouraging them to urge the foundation president to drop the plan. Next, after the foundation president indicated to us volunteers that he was carrying out plans of the foundation board of directors, I wrote the members of the memorial foundation board of directors and then encouraged legislators to contact the board.
County supervisors Pollard and Sharp and Congressmen Goodlatte and Perriello have indicated their opposition. Congressman Goodlatte replied that he shared the outrage over the “terrible idea” of the Stalin bust and that he had expended considerable time and effort urging the foundation president to drop the plan. Responses from Senators Warner and Webb and two foundation board members were noncommittal. Governor Kaine’s office referred to the foundation’s rationale for the bust but expressed the hope that the foundation board would consider my views before making a final decision.
Recent articles in the Bedford and Roanoke newspapers referencing foundation staff personnel and the newsletter found on the foundation website (www.dday.org, Summer/Fall Overlord Report) indicate that the foundation plans to proceed with the installation of the Stalin bust.
If the foundation board cannot be convinced to kill the Stalin bust, perhaps the donors who funded the bust or the sculptor who made the bust can be convinced to ask that the bust not be installed.
The foundation’s website publicizes the text of the plaque to accompany the Stalin bust and lessons the foundation hopes to teach. The dedicatory language is: “In memory of the tens of millions who died under Stalin’s rule and in tribute to all whose valor, fidelity, and sacrifice denied him and his successors victory in the Cold War. Funded by the Estate of Louise L. Terrell.” I would be interested in learning about the interest of Ms Terrell or the executor(s) of her estate in memorializing those who died under Stalin’s rule and honoring those who opposed him and his successors in the Cold War. I would especially be interested in learning how these interests in memorializing Stalin’s victims and honoring his opponents were translated into erecting a bust of Stalin on a pedestal at the National D-Day Memorial. How does one explain honoring a person’s victims and opponents by placing a replica of the person on a pedestal? Where is the logic, the common sense?
The sculptor appears to have had qualms about working on a subject as evil as Stalin. Perhaps he could soothe his conscience by asking for the Stalin bust back and offering to provide in its place at no additional cost a bust of a representative American D-Day veteran who served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Forces, U.S. Navy, or U.S. Coast Guard, services that have been neglected in the memorial’s statuary.
The memorial foundation president says the bust of Stalin will not honor Stalin. In my view, at present, the statuary and plaques at the memorial are key means for honoring Allied D-Day forces. We guides and the visitors approach the statues and busts with respect and honor.
Extending the foundation’s rationale for erecting the Stalin bust, some misguided person some day might propose a bust of Adolf Hitler, arguing that the bust does not honor Hitler, that Hitler’s role was an important factor in D-Day, and that a bust of Hitler will add context and help provide lessons about D-Day. Saying no to the Stalin bust will help prevent this and keep the memorial focused on its purpose—honoring Allied D-Day forces.
The memorial foundation board can still redeem itself and do the right thing—terminate the plan to install the bust of Stalin.
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James Morrison is a veteran, a retired executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy toward the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, author of the book Bedford Goes to War, and a volunteer at the National D-Day Memorial. He lives in Moneta.
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