This is the corner of a street very near my house.. Three years ago, a boy was killed crossing that street. This monument to him has been there, ever since.... It's constantly being tended, and items replaced after they've worn from the weather..
Three.
Years.
Ago.
Less than a year ago, there was something else that happened, in a nearby town...
'A slap in the face'
By Jeb Bobseine
Fri Nov 16, 2007, 09:11 AM EST
Walpole -
A 150-pound, cement bulldog statue that marked the grave of a murdered man is missing and possibly stolen, say the man's parents.
''It's a slap in the face,'' said Kenny Jones Sr., the father of the late Billy Jones. ''I can't believe anyone would stoop that low.''
Billy Jones, 25, of Walpole, was shot and killed along with his friend, Gary Jones, 23, in an Army Barracks store in North Conway, N.H., on July 2. The clerk of the store, James Walker, 34, was also killed.
Ex-convict Michael Woodbury pleaded guilty to the killings in August and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, without possibility of parole.
After Billy Jones was laid to rest this summer in Terrace Hill Cemetery on Washington Street, his parents ordered a headstone from Spain. They were told it would take three months to arrive.
In the meantime, they honored Jones' love for dogs - in particular for his beloved bulldog Lily - with the large, gray cement statue.
''He used to sleep with that dog,'' Jones' mother, Barbara, said.
A police report said the statue marked the closest grave to the street. It was in a prominent position, Kenny Jones said, visible from the street.
The police report noted that the statue would have been difficult to move, given its size.
Patrolman Joseph Zanghetti wrote in his report that there were no tire tracks in the grass nor were there any ''definable footprints in the dirt'' around the grave.
Kenny Jones said he visited his son's grave this past Tuesday during the day, as he does every day, and the statue was there. Barbara Jones said the statue was there said she visited Tuesday night.
At noon on Wednesday when Kenny Jones visited, the statue was missing.
He looked around the grounds of the cemetery hoping that someone had merely moved it and not taken it completely away. He even looked in the brook across the street, but couldn't find it.
Bob LeBlanc, superintendent of parks and cemeteries, said several workers in the Department of Public Works had searched the cemetery grounds to no avail.
Police logs from Tuesday night showed no unusual activity in the area, nor were there any reports of similar mischief around town, according to Walpole Police.
LeBlanc did not remember any similar incidents. He added that he hoped whoever took the statue realizes they will be subject to prosecution by the police for theft and vandalism.
''I wish I could say we had suspects,'' said Deputy Chief Scott Bushway.
Bushway called the incident appalling. ''We're treating it very, very seriously,'' he said.
Explain to me, please... Why is it now proper to vandalize graves, but show reverence for street corner markers? What is the difference between where the body is actually laid to rest, and where the person spent the last few seconds of life? Have we as a culture shifted so, that the remains of the person who died means less than the instant of their death?
I've heard how some mothers continuously memorialize their children with displays, and have arguments with the cemetery caretakers about the type of display. I can appreciate the caretakers wanting to keep a certain decorum. I can understand that some view the outlandishness of these displays as infantile, as more about getting attention for their grief than about tribute to the dead. What I can't equate to that attention- Why do we allow it on public streets, if we criticize it in cemeteries?
Look carefully at the photo- Notice the helmet? The Skateboard? Why hasn't any of these items been stolen? I just don't understand why a public display of mourning in a public place, getting lots of pedestrian traffic, gets more reverence than a grave yard....
Monday, October 10, 2011
Please explain this to me...
Will someone explain this to me?
This is the corner of a street very near my house.. Three years ago, a boy was killed crossing that street. This monument to him has been there, ever since.... It's constantly being tended, and items replaced after they've worn from the weather..
Three.
Years.
Ago.
Less than a year ago, there was something else that happened, in a nearby town...
'A slap in the face'
By Jeb Bobseine
Fri Nov 16, 2007, 09:11 AM EST
Walpole -
A 150-pound, cement bulldog statue that marked the grave of a murdered man is missing and possibly stolen, say the man's parents.
''It's a slap in the face,'' said Kenny Jones Sr., the father of the late Billy Jones. ''I can't believe anyone would stoop that low.''
Billy Jones, 25, of Walpole, was shot and killed along with his friend, Gary Jones, 23, in an Army Barracks store in North Conway, N.H., on July 2. The clerk of the store, James Walker, 34, was also killed.
Ex-convict Michael Woodbury pleaded guilty to the killings in August and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, without possibility of parole.
After Billy Jones was laid to rest this summer in Terrace Hill Cemetery on Washington Street, his parents ordered a headstone from Spain. They were told it would take three months to arrive.
In the meantime, they honored Jones' love for dogs - in particular for his beloved bulldog Lily - with the large, gray cement statue.
''He used to sleep with that dog,'' Jones' mother, Barbara, said.
A police report said the statue marked the closest grave to the street. It was in a prominent position, Kenny Jones said, visible from the street.
The police report noted that the statue would have been difficult to move, given its size.
Patrolman Joseph Zanghetti wrote in his report that there were no tire tracks in the grass nor were there any ''definable footprints in the dirt'' around the grave.
Kenny Jones said he visited his son's grave this past Tuesday during the day, as he does every day, and the statue was there. Barbara Jones said the statue was there said she visited Tuesday night.
At noon on Wednesday when Kenny Jones visited, the statue was missing.
He looked around the grounds of the cemetery hoping that someone had merely moved it and not taken it completely away. He even looked in the brook across the street, but couldn't find it.
Bob LeBlanc, superintendent of parks and cemeteries, said several workers in the Department of Public Works had searched the cemetery grounds to no avail.
Police logs from Tuesday night showed no unusual activity in the area, nor were there any reports of similar mischief around town, according to Walpole Police.
LeBlanc did not remember any similar incidents. He added that he hoped whoever took the statue realizes they will be subject to prosecution by the police for theft and vandalism.
''I wish I could say we had suspects,'' said Deputy Chief Scott Bushway.
Bushway called the incident appalling. ''We're treating it very, very seriously,'' he said.
Explain to me, please... Why is it now proper to vandalize graves, but show reverence for street corner markers? What is the difference between where the body is actually laid to rest, and where the person spent the last few seconds of life? Have we as a culture shifted so, that the remains of the person who died means less than the instant of their death?
I've heard how some mothers continuously memorialize their children with displays, and have arguments with the cemetery caretakers about the type of display. I can appreciate the caretakers wanting to keep a certain decorum. I can understand that some view the outlandishness of these displays as infantile, as more about getting attention for their grief than about tribute to the dead. What I can't equate to that attention- Why do we allow it on public streets, if we criticize it in cemeteries?
Look carefully at the photo- Notice the helmet? The Skateboard? Why hasn't any of these items been stolen? I just don't understand why a public display of mourning in a public place, getting lots of pedestrian traffic, gets more reverence than a grave yard....
This is the corner of a street very near my house.. Three years ago, a boy was killed crossing that street. This monument to him has been there, ever since.... It's constantly being tended, and items replaced after they've worn from the weather..
Three.
Years.
Ago.
Less than a year ago, there was something else that happened, in a nearby town...
'A slap in the face'
By Jeb Bobseine
Fri Nov 16, 2007, 09:11 AM EST
Walpole -
A 150-pound, cement bulldog statue that marked the grave of a murdered man is missing and possibly stolen, say the man's parents.
''It's a slap in the face,'' said Kenny Jones Sr., the father of the late Billy Jones. ''I can't believe anyone would stoop that low.''
Billy Jones, 25, of Walpole, was shot and killed along with his friend, Gary Jones, 23, in an Army Barracks store in North Conway, N.H., on July 2. The clerk of the store, James Walker, 34, was also killed.
Ex-convict Michael Woodbury pleaded guilty to the killings in August and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, without possibility of parole.
After Billy Jones was laid to rest this summer in Terrace Hill Cemetery on Washington Street, his parents ordered a headstone from Spain. They were told it would take three months to arrive.
In the meantime, they honored Jones' love for dogs - in particular for his beloved bulldog Lily - with the large, gray cement statue.
''He used to sleep with that dog,'' Jones' mother, Barbara, said.
A police report said the statue marked the closest grave to the street. It was in a prominent position, Kenny Jones said, visible from the street.
The police report noted that the statue would have been difficult to move, given its size.
Patrolman Joseph Zanghetti wrote in his report that there were no tire tracks in the grass nor were there any ''definable footprints in the dirt'' around the grave.
Kenny Jones said he visited his son's grave this past Tuesday during the day, as he does every day, and the statue was there. Barbara Jones said the statue was there said she visited Tuesday night.
At noon on Wednesday when Kenny Jones visited, the statue was missing.
He looked around the grounds of the cemetery hoping that someone had merely moved it and not taken it completely away. He even looked in the brook across the street, but couldn't find it.
Bob LeBlanc, superintendent of parks and cemeteries, said several workers in the Department of Public Works had searched the cemetery grounds to no avail.
Police logs from Tuesday night showed no unusual activity in the area, nor were there any reports of similar mischief around town, according to Walpole Police.
LeBlanc did not remember any similar incidents. He added that he hoped whoever took the statue realizes they will be subject to prosecution by the police for theft and vandalism.
''I wish I could say we had suspects,'' said Deputy Chief Scott Bushway.
Bushway called the incident appalling. ''We're treating it very, very seriously,'' he said.
Explain to me, please... Why is it now proper to vandalize graves, but show reverence for street corner markers? What is the difference between where the body is actually laid to rest, and where the person spent the last few seconds of life? Have we as a culture shifted so, that the remains of the person who died means less than the instant of their death?
I've heard how some mothers continuously memorialize their children with displays, and have arguments with the cemetery caretakers about the type of display. I can appreciate the caretakers wanting to keep a certain decorum. I can understand that some view the outlandishness of these displays as infantile, as more about getting attention for their grief than about tribute to the dead. What I can't equate to that attention- Why do we allow it on public streets, if we criticize it in cemeteries?
Look carefully at the photo- Notice the helmet? The Skateboard? Why hasn't any of these items been stolen? I just don't understand why a public display of mourning in a public place, getting lots of pedestrian traffic, gets more reverence than a grave yard....
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