Several cracks are present in the base of the monument, and a large chunk of the pedestal supporting the cross has eroded from one corner.
The mayor said that although ironic, it might prove to be the complaint about the monument that will eventually save it from falling into a deeper state of disrepair.
“If anything … they have brought this monument into greater prominence,” Mayor Fontaine said in the radio interview.
According to Msgr. John Allard, chaplain of the Fire Department and pastor of St. Agatha and Precious Blood churches in Woonsocket, the cross is a “landmark” that has existed for almost a century in a city heavily populated by the descendents of French-Canadian immigrants who settled in the area during the early 1900s and who worked in local textile mills.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Msgr. Allard, a Woonsocket native. “I think that there are many serious issues in the country. This is a distraction.”
Eleanor Michaud, a St. Agatha parishioner, said the Fire Department should not have to remove the prayer and graphic of the angel from its Web site.
“They have the right of free speech,” Michaud said.
Roger Fisette, a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish, also supports keeping the prayer and graphic on the Web site, but feels moving the monument to private property may be the best option.
“If it were on private property, it would cause less commotion,” Fisette said, noting how organizations such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation can benefit from the increased exposure they receive in such cases.
Lifelong Woonsocket resident Bernard Fontaine, an employee of the Museum of Work and Culture, doesn’t understand why the monument is suddenly a topic of controversy after not drawing much attention for several decades.
“It’s just a simple landmark and meaningful to those who believe,” he acknowledged.
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The monument was erected in 1921 in memory of William Jolicoeur, a member of the American Expeditionary Forces killed in France during World War I. In 1952, it was rededicated by the Disabled American Veterans in honor of three brothers, Alexandre, Henri and Louis Gagne, all killed during World War II.
According to the Woonsocket Centennial History, 1888-2000, the 1921 dedication was an international event, with a high-profile visit by Marshall Ferdinand Foch, commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War I. Foch participated in the dedication of “Place Jolicoeur,” the monumental plaza alongside Fire Station 2.
The site where the monument rests was once a traffic island in the middle of a busy roadway. But when flooding prompted the city to change the traffic pattern, “Place Jolicoeur” became part of the fire station’s parking lot.
When Tom Poole, a disabled Marine Corps veteran heard about the call for the monument’s removal, he spent several hours keeping vigil by it Tuesday and Wednesday in a show of respect for the departed soldiers it represents.
He disagrees with the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s view of the memorial as a religious symbol.
“This was a memorial to some people who paid the ultimate sacrifice during two of our wars,” said Poole, 53, a Woonsocket native.