To the editor:

I think it is great that a donor is willing to fund a Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Like any city, good planning includes areas for different types of memorials. A city plan seems to be needed for this and future memorials.

There are areas that are appropriate for the sacredness and dignity of monuments. Having kids playing around or on monuments, groups celebrating, laughing, music, picnicking or other festivities may not be appropriate. Thinking ahead, if a firefighter, law enforcement officer, or more people in the military are lost, more monuments may be needed. There is the danger of having all the public spaces look like a graveyard of monuments. The dignity and importance of the memorials may be lost if they are placed in too many public spaces.

Jim Muyres

Mankato