To the editor:

Wherever the proposed Vietnam veterans’ memorial is located, I suggest that a small stone or plaque be placed nearby, inscribed with these words by George Eliot: “The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you or me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited graves.”

I’d help to pay for a simple tribute to the unsung heroes and heroines of this and every community: the life givers, family makers, community builders, farmers, laborers, teachers, healthcare providers, peacemakers, conscientious objectors — all those unnamed local citizens who spent their lives in quiet service, never expecting a monument to their memory.

Chris Loetscher

New Ulm