Engravers, hire us

Another public agency is suffering from a grammar gaffe, this time in Virginia. A plaque honoring slain officers says:

"We were highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

Those of you with better memories than I may recognize what it was supposed to say, from the Gettysburg Address:

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

This news column includes another fun fact about the statue: The sculptor hid a little drawing of a pig and the words "oink resistant" on the heel of the officer.

"You found me out," she told a reporter a few days after the May 1987 unveiling of the 8-foot, 1,000-pound figure. "It's modeled after those patterns that you see that say 'oil resistant.' I hope they all have as good a sense of humor as I think they do."

They did not. The heel was sanded smooth.