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Monuments and Memorial Day
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Marine Private First Class Jim Varansky was killed in Vietnam on April 22, 1970. Although I never knew him, my parents did. His memory was at the forefront of their concerns when I enlisted in the Marines 20 years later and has stayed with me since. - photo by Dustin R. Strong
As Memorial Day approaches, I thought about, and was even asked, to do a piece on the Veterans’ Memorial on the Pittsburg State Campus. It is a beautiful and peaceful place, and I often visit a family friend, a Marine I never met but has still influenced my life, whose name is inscribed on the polished granite. But as I thought about how to write such a piece, I began having some trouble.