Renaming Victory Day: Recall the past but look to the future | Opinion
William J. Oehlkers is professor emeritus, department of elementary education, at Rhode Island College.
A bill was introduced in the General Assembly this session to change the name of Victory Day to Peace and Remembrance Day. This bill has aroused strong passions on either side of the issue. Could a museum in New Zealand provide a new perspective on the controversy?
Several years ago, my wife and I visited the Auckland Museum in New Zealand. We climbed to the third floor that was devoted to World War II memorabilia. Hanging in the center of the floor was an actual Japanese Zero, a single-engine fighter plane that I had read so much about as a young boy.
After getting our fill of dusty artifacts, we visited the first floor. There in a wing of the building was a new exhibit of modern Japanese architecture. In bright colors the exhibit displayed the latest in building trends of that nation. Here I thought was a message. On the third floor was the past, never to be forgotten. But on the first floor was the present and future. It was time to move ahead and emphasize peace-building and reconciliation.
Upon returning to the United States, I spoke about this museum experience to a Rhode Island legislative committee that was studying the name change proposal. I began my statement by recalling memories of World War II. I remember the war in the Pacific theater, the bitter fight by our armed forces to conquer island after island and the kamikaze pilots who in the last days of the war tried to avoid defeat. I said that we do need to remember the past but that a state should do more than look back. It needs to promote peace, tolerance and acceptance of all its citizens. Victory Day fails to meet this requirement.
More: War and peace
I ended with these words, “Let me speak quite personally. I imagine that most World War II veterans have grandchildren, perhaps several. Grandchildren are a wonderful joy in life. I have one grandchild. I am willing to bet that my grandchild is different from their grandchildren. My grandchild is of Japanese ancestry. And yet their grandchildren and mine must learn to live together peacefully. We can help; we can leave a legacy, a name that allows us all to both remember the past and at the same time create a climate which promotes peace and acceptance. For the children of Rhode Island who will live to be citizens of the future, please change Victory Day to Peace and Remembrance.”
The committee rejected the name change. Some day the name of the holiday will be changed. It may be the work of our children and their children to move Rhode Island beyond a preoccupation with past and into the future.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Some day the name of the holiday will be changed. It may be the work of our children and their children.
