When Lt. (GI Joe) Gliniewicz was murdered in Fox Lake,
Illinois, an extensive manhunt was organized to search for him. Thousands of
police from all over the United States attended his funeral to pay their
respects to this local hero who had mentored so many and been active in helping
the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs in Fox Lake.
After the funeral, many of G.I. Joe’s transgressions came to
light. Apparently he committed suicide and had it rigged to look like a murder to hide his crimes. Allegedly, he had been embezzling money from the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs that he purportedly
helped for years. In addition, there had been many other incidents and
complaints against him involving sexual harassment, drunkenness on the job, and
other violations of the public trust. Does the bad erase all the good that GI
Joe did? Was he a saint or a sinner?
The whole controversy surrounding Lt. Gliniewicz’ death
brings to mind a trip we took to Argentina in February, 2012. Before leaving, I
asked an acquaintance who had grown up in Buenos Aires for ideas about places
of interest to see. One of her top recommendations was the cemetery in
Ricoleta, a very prominent Buenos Aires neighborhood. Another top
recommendation was to go to the Evita Peron Museum.
Prior to our trip to South America, I had always thought of
Juan and Eva Peron as dictators who ruled Argentina with iron fists from 1944
to 1952 and caused many of their political opponents to be disappeared and/or imprisoned. The Perons-BAD! The Evita Peron Museum painted a totally different picture. She advocated for
labor, women’s rights, the decamisados (the shirtless i.e. poor) and women’s suffrage and is remembered for having
single-handedly established a women’s health clinic and organized low-cost
housing. Eva Peron was adored by her constituents for this.
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| Eva Peron |
The cemetery at Ricoleta is worth a visit to see all its
elaborate monuments and could be the blog post subject in itself of many a
writer. At Eva Peron’s grave, people are still coming to this day to bring flowers and pay tribute to her. I was surprised to see written on her grave
“Don’t cry for me…” I thought it was just a song written for the musical. Does
this mean that the Perons were not dictators who had their opponents sent to
prison and/or disappeared? Were they saints or sinners? Again, you be the
judge.
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| Eva Peron's tombstone |
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| Eva's grave with fresh flowers left by her supporters 50 years later |
For me, the take-home message of that South American trip is that we human beings are
very complicated. Few if any among us are all good or all bad. For most people, it is
easier to see others in stark black or white than in shades of gray. Yet,
that’s who we are. Saints or sinners? Let history be the judge.
