The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery honors all those in the US military, known and unknown, who gave their lives for our freedoms. Always worth contemplating, today more than ever. The mystery that once shrouded the Tomb has lifted with the availability of DNA testing, but the memorial continues to make visible the noble sacrifice of a few for the many. If you’d like to know more about the Tomb and how they selected the unknown soldier interred there, you can read a downloadable excerpt from MONUMENTS here. Photo © Lee Sandstead

Thinking, gratefully, about the wisdom of the late Richard Benson, photographer and printer, MacArthur Fellow, and former dean of the Yale School of Art, where I interviewed him in 2003 for my book, MONUMENTS (Random House, 2007).  As we spoke about a writer’s obligation to readers, I shared my fear that my words wouldn’t adequately convey the emotional and psychological weight of memorials. Benson’s reply was liberating, bedrock advice that has guided my writing ever since:  

“Your job is to make things clear. To be very clear headed.  It’s not a...