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Canton’s Infantryman at the turn of the 20th century with a group of Canton High School girls. |
As is so often the case, soldiers that return home from war
are often broken. We see the veterans who have sacrificed for our great nation,
but sometimes what we fail to see are the scars hidden deep inside. And, if
there could be a metaphor for all this, it is the soldier that is about to
return home to Canton next week.
This soldier, Infantryman,
has stood guard for over one hundred years. You may have seen him during his
lonely vigil, looking down over Washington Street – or standing guard at the
end of a dusty hallway. Yet, his is a history that will come full circle in
just a matter of days. This is the story of the Civil War Monument and one man
who has a pretty ambitious bucket list.
On the second floor of the William’s Estate is the office of
the Veteran’s Agent, Tony Andreotti. The office is littered with flags, files,
and plaques. Sitting behind his desk, one day last year, Melissa Araujo walked
into his office. Melissa is the daughter of a Canton man that had been killed
in action in Vietnam. Andreotti had been recognizing various fallen heroes at
their graveside for the past several years, and a few years ago attention was
turned to Rudolph Araujo who had died almost forty-four years ago.
At the simple ceremony, at St. Mary’s Cemetery on Washington
Street, the family gathered to pay tribute to a husband, father and citizen of
Canton. As Andreotti looked down at the headstone he shook his head, “this was
a small, government issued stone that seemed so insignificant- certainly given
the sacrifice that Rudolph had made to his country.” And, as far as sacrifices
go, Araujo gave the ultimate one – his life. In a far away place, near Binh
Duong, South Vietnam, an explosive device killed the 29 year-old army mechanic
just four days before Christmas. In an instant, a wife and a daughter’s
holidays were forever changed. In that winter of 1969, the Town of Canton
mourned the loss of one of its own.
And, reflecting upon that modest stone, it was apparent to
Andreotti that something had to change. “The original stone was so
insignificant that you could not find it. I think perhaps the family might not
have had the means for a larger stone. So, we are correcting this now.” And, by
correcting it, Andreotti means that he will make the insignificant, now significant.
It has always been the mission of this Veteran’s Agent to make us see what has
been lost to time. This past Sunday on a crisp autumn morning, family and
friends and townspeople gathered at the grave of Rudolph Ernest Araujo. The air
hung heavy, and leaves crunched underfoot. In this sacred place, Andreotti helped us remember the sacrifice of
this amazing hero. What was there was trivial, what is now there today is
proper.
What has been done makes us stand up, take notice, and
remember. And still, another soldier is about to return and as a result of
significant funding by the people of Canton, we will give our tribute to the
fallen Civil War soldiers from Canton. By now, everyone knows the story of the
statue that had stood at Memorial Hall. One night, hoodlums from a neighboring
town – in response to local rivalries – hitched a rope around the statue and
tied the other end to the bumper of a car and in an instant destroyed a
monument to the War of the Rebellion.
Andreotti was reminded that Community Preservation money
could help restore the statue, the repair of which had been on his “bucket
list” for quite some time. “I conceived of the project in 2000 – a year into my
new job as agent. I asked Buddy Fallon to get a quote for restoration, and as
budgets have always been tight it was impossible to undertake.” Explains
Andreotti, “Jeremy Comeau gave me the hint … we were at Starbucks one day and
he tipped me off. And I went after the
money and fortunately the town was receptive.”
Canton’s Civil War Monument has a name – known simply as Infantryman, the statue is painted,
cast-zinc, and manufactured by the J.W. Fiske Company in the early 1890’s.
Weighing in at 400 pounds and measuring almost seven feet high, this statue has
several “brothers” throughout the country.
This same statue can be found in Iola, Kansas at the town cemetery, in
North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and more importantly one on Martha’s Vineyard at
Oak Bluffs.
It is important to note that these statues were made of soft
metal called zinc. The costs of production of zinc as opposed to bronze are
lower due to its low melting temperature and yet when cast it mimics bronze. At
the time, zinc was referred to as “white bronze” and was marketed as
alternative to actual bronze. In the late 1800’s it was very common for garden
sculptures and memorials to be cast in zinc, examples of such can be found in
the old part of Canton Corner Cemetery. For a town like Canton, and even though
donated by the wealthy philanthropist Elijah Morse, the choice of zinc over
more expensive sculptures meant the ability to order a statue from a catalog
for quick delivery.
When Infantryman
arrived in 1890, he was placed inside Memorial Hall and used as a drinking
fountain. Water would pour forth from the lions’ heads in the pedestal into
small cast iron bowls. Quite a
controversy erupted when a town resident reportedly walked off with the ladles,
causing a brouhaha, “scores of people have gone to the fountain for a cool
refreshing drink, only to find the dippers gone. The officers should keep a
strict watch and if possible, catch the rascal,” the local paper reported.
Then, in 1894, the town decided to relocate the memorial
statue and drinking fountain to the front lawn of Memorial Hall where he stood
until attacked by vandals. A wonderful conservation effort by Canton resident,
Ernie Ciccotelli pieced Infantryman
back together, but he could not be moved outside. Relegated to a back hallway,
Andreotti moved restoration off of his bucket list and onto active duty.
What has happened next is nothing short of a miracle in
preservation. Part art and part science, the statue has been in Maryland for
the past forty days in the care of very talented conservationists. As the sculpture was unwrapped, the conditions
were noted and paint removed. Plenty of items had been lost including the end
of the bayonet, the thumb, the interior of the cape, a section of gun strap,
and sections of the plinth and strap on the cap brim.
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| A rare glimpse inside Infantryman, where a new stainless steel skeleton takes shape. |
Overseeing the project is Mark Rabinowitz, the Executive
Vice President of Conservation Solutions, Inc. the firm that is handling this
project. “The best goal for public art is to serve the public need it was
intended for.” Notes Rabinowitz, observing that the very essence of this statue
is more than a memorial; it is “art.” Of the use of zinc, Rabinowitz puts
forward the idea that “it is an interesting form of sculpture whereby the
ideals which public art embody – nobility and memorial – were available to
localities for a lower cost, leading to the best democratization of the values
of public art.”
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David Espinosa and Bob Donahue solder the cape, which conceals the interior armature. |
And, when you think of Infantryman
as art, he takes on additional meaning.A new stainless steel armature has been fabricated and has
become the skeleton inside the figure. As for the missing items, it is here
that the “brothers” have been called into action. In the Hurricane of 1938 Infantryman of the Oak Bluffs Soldiers
and Sailors Memorial was toppled and severely damaged. In 2002 Conservation
Solutions’ conservators fully restored the work to its original condition. So
good was the work that the project received an award for excellence from
Smithsonian Institute. Today, the same molds that were used for Oak Bluffs (and
originally cast from the North Kingston, RI Infantryman)
have come full circle to become castings for the scabbard and bayonet missing
from our monument. In the case of Oak Bluffs, an actual 1859 Springfield
bayonet was used to create a wood model and ultimately the zinc cast
replacement. The same model was used again with permission of Oak Bluffs to
bring our soldier back to condition.
Over several emails, Tony Andreotti has received updates for
the past several weeks. The head, oddly detached, lies on a table and gets
close attention and repair. The loose ammo pack becomes soldered to the body.
Small losses have been filled with synthetic materials. And within the past few
days Infantryman has been reassembled
and coated with a system of acid etching primers and acrylics designed to mimic
the bronze patina. Bronze powder filled paint has been followed by a coat of
darker brown paint and rubbed back to age the statue. And finally, a coat of
wax seals the system.
Within days, Infantryman
will return to Canton, still a broken soldier – with wounds well covered, yet
well cared for by a loving community and a caring Veteran’s Agent. This is why
Andreotti ordered a new gravestone for a fallen Vietnam War veteran, and why he
initiated the restoration of the Civil War Memorial – to make us remember the
sacrifice of our soldiers. When asked if he fears that vandals may attack
again, Andreotti merely shrugs and says, “I do not think so,” but in true
military fashion he adds, “and if they do, we will put it back up again.”
