Scholars, lawmakers and veterans debated 20th century history yesterday in a hearing over whether or not a plaque honoring New Hampshire Veterans of the Spanish Civil War should hang in the statehouse. The recognition of members of the so-called Abraham Lincoln brigade had been approved by legislative leaders, but is being reconsidered in the wake of protest about honoring communists.
NHPR's Josh Rogers has more.
Senator Burt Cohen of Newcastle proposed the plaque that depicts a clenched fist and is emblazoned with the slogan de la liberdad for the dozen or so New Hampshireites who journeyed to Spain in 1937 to try to defeat Francisco Franco ? the fascist general who with the backing of Hitler and Mussolini crushed the Spanish republican army on the eve of the Second World War. According to Cohen, those Americans who flouted the US policy of non-intervention to fight fascism abroad both embodied and defended the very concept of liberty.
These men and women, who were black and white, catholic, protestant, jewish ? all ethnic backgrounds deserve our honor because they obeyed their conscience while the world turned a blind eye to the rising tide of Nazism and fascism these guys were wide awake. They could not rest when Franco.in this first phase of WWII
Opponents of the plaque see things rather differently. Former FBI investigator Jude McCarthy says Cohen and other plaque--supporters not only gloss over the Lincoln brigade?s largely communist membership, but also fail to grasp its grave implications.
60 percent were communist. The other 40 were fellow travelers in total sympathy with the goals of the communist organization, which was then and now, total global domination.
If many believe ascension and subsequent entrenchment of the so-called global economy makes the urgency of such pronouncements somewhat less pressing than when the cold war was still a going concern, some at today?s hearing clearly don?t think so. Russell Cook, a Greenville Selectman, proffered this chestnut, which he says he?s been burnishing ever since his days as a serviceman in the Second World War.
Having been very close to the so-called communists, I came to the conclusion that. And I?m proud to say it, the only good communist is a dead communist.
Senator Cohen says such talk is ridiculous and harmful.
The Cold War is over?it?s not 1954. Publicly regurgitating red baiting in 2001 can only hurt NH.
If lawmakers in attendance seemed divided on the plaque?s merits, most seemed to agree with Cohen that cooler heads ought to prevail. Republican David Welch, who was part of the committee that approved the plaque last session, suggested that both sides might profit by viewing the plaque, as he does ? as a matter of history, not ideology.
It is a historical record?.
Hearings on the plaque will resume today. At least 15 more people are scheduled to testify.
