During our last few minutes in Ajjacio on the island of Corsica Susan and I strolled back along the waterfront to the ship and in doing so passed this monument, which grabbed a hold of my heart and very much to my surprise brought tears to my eyes, moving me unlike any other monument I’ve seen with the exception of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC (click to enlarge):
 
The plaque at the bottom honors “La Corse a ses enfants morts pour la patrie,” which I believe translates into “The children of Corsica who have died for their fatherland.”
I think what got me so good was that as I approached it from the left all I saw from that angle was the soldier at the moment of his death falling into the arms of the angel. Though powerful in its own right, it wasn’t until I got to this point that I saw the hooded figure of what I’d made to be the soldier’s wife or mother kissing him goodbye and the impact of the sculpture’s statement hit me.
And I just totally choked up right then. And now.
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