New Zealand's Bridges: Bridge of Remembrance across the Avon River in Christchurch

March 2011 (-43.533 Degrees, 172.633 Degrees) Bridge of Remembrance

Continuing downstream along the Avon River is the Bridge of Remembrance, which was built to honor the many soldiers who were killed during the first World War. Although I can appreciate wanting to commemorate the young men that gave everything for their country, there is something a little creepy about these structures. The wreaths, lions, and symbolic archways just don't have the same meaning today. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC (a wall with all the soldiers names on it) is more comforting as a monument to sacrifice and loss. It's like Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. You just want to state as plainly as possible what happened without drawing attention to yourself.

New Zealand's Bridges: Bridge of Remembrance across the Avon River in Christchurch by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.