why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

But how and where could all of the submissions be displayed? Earlier, in March 1968, the Americal Division had been involved in what became known as the My Lai Massacre, in which over 100 men, women and children were killed. Black is not a color of shame. Sturken, 125. Just as the American people could be a part of building the Memorial through their contributions and support, they could also have an opportunity to participate in its design. They struck at least 30 provincial capitals and the major cities of Saigon and Hue. The list of tasks to achieve such a goal seemed endless. Medals, toys, flowers, photographsanything and everything is left at The Wall as family and friends seek to remember their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. On April 27, 1979, four years after the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) was incorporated as a non-profit organization to establish a memorial to honor the veterans of the Vietnam War. The more people you got to co-sponsor, the more people wanted to join.. The VC was effectively finished; it would not field more than 25,00040,000 troops at any time for the remainder of the war. Karal Ann Marling and Robert Silberman, The Statue Near the Wall: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Art of Remembering, Smithsonian Studies in American Art 1, no. It distributed an instructional booklet communicating its vision to all who registered for the competition. A Controversial War Gets a Controversial Memorial - ThoughtCo By the time of World War II, a number of groups sought Vietnamese independence but as Vo Nguyen Giapwho would build Vietnams postWWII armyexpressed it, the communists were the best organized and most action-oriented of these groups. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Such images pack tremendous emotional punch but often lack context. . The Selective Service System during the Vietnam war was highly controversial, especially because early in the war draftees came disproportionately from poor, working-class, rural, and minority populations. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. Mao Zedongs Communist Party had won the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and western governmentsparticularly that of the U.Sfeared communist expansion throughout Southeast Asia. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. Once there was no more room for conflictthe memorials form, upon dedication, was no longer negotiablethe front in this culture war moved elsewhere. The design team and VVMF searched for a way for the names to be sandblasted rather than hand-carved. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Washington DC Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. For Woods, the growing coalition was a prime example of its not what you know, its who you know. These people, though a small group, were able to reach out to their networks and their extensive contacts to recruit the type of expertise and support required for such a mammoth initiative. Maya Lin, has gone on to become a respected architect and artist, with a studio in New York City. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also called The Wall, national monument in Washington, D.C., honouring members of the U.S. armed forces who served and died in the Vietnam War (1955-75). Sturken, 320. The Vietnam War was an extremely long conflict, lasting from the sending of a group of advisors to aid South Vietnam on November 1, 1955, to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. On February 7, 1965, the U.S. Air Force began bombing selected sites in North Vietnam. Buddhists, who comprised South Vietnams majority, claimed Diem, a Catholic, favored citizens of his religion in distributing aid. Each juror was required to read Fields of Fire, A Rumor of War, and other current literature about the Vietnam War. The Three Soldiers, 198284. Were all the result of our upbringing. Photo by William Bill Lecky. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. I heard there was a group of serious veterans, not just people getting together to have a beer in the evening, but a group that was serious about getting together to address the problems of the veterans.. The Memorials walls point to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, thus bringing the Memorial into the historical context of our country. Experience the evolution of the Vietnam Wall controversy by reading through a chronological list of documents divided into five rounds: Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs initiates a hard-fought battle to build a Vietnam War Memorial, finally convincing Congress to appropriate land for a memorial that would be built with public funds. Though its location on federally owned property and its maintenance by the National Park Service might imply otherwise, the impetus to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial came entirely from the private sector and from one man in particular: Jan Scruggs, a Vietnam veteran who had been wounded in the line of duty. The eldest juror, Pietro Belluschi, took a full day, said Spreiregen. These mass-media fictions enabled the very real neglect of veterans by the institutions tasked with tending to their needs. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) advised that was not the caseAmerica had a strong military presence in the Pacific that would serve as a deterrent. But I was always impressed with the example my parents set.. Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. As time progressed it caused more and more controversy in the United States. When the winning Vietnam Veterans Memorial design was dedicated on November 13, 1982, a storm of controversy followed. And if they were bitter, who could blame them? Why was the Vietnam women's memorial so significant? The two sections were not unlike North and South in the United States prior to the Civil War; their people did not fully trust each other. Ho attempted to contact Eisenhower to discuss Vietnam but received no answer. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located in Washington D.C., is a tribute to the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. Traumatic memoriessuch as those of police officers brutally beating anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and members of the National Guard opening fire on students protesting the war at Kent State University in Ohiowere removed, like a tumor, from the body of the nation and assigned to another geographical location: Vietnam. All of these items are stored in a museum-quality facility in Landover, Maryland. I have a Master's degree in military history from King's College, London and my cornucopia of interests include: World War II, World War II, and World War II. Financial costs had risen to $30 billion a year. Remembering Vietnam: The Story Behind 'The Wall' Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. Just, Why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial? Everything has to be thought out and in place before the launch button is pressed.. Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! In the Shadow of the Washington Monument. Images of fighting, of dead and wounded soldiers, of POWs held in North Vietnam were beamed into Americas living rooms night after night, as was footage of hundreds, sometimes thousands of antiwar protestors marching through the streets. China conquered the northern part of modern Vietnam in 111 BC and retained control until 938 AD; it continued to exert some control over the Vietnamese until 1885. On the other hand, Congress had never declared war and so the president was limited in what he could do in Southeast Asia. Not only was Harts statue included at the memorial site, but a flagpole was added as well. About Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The women soldiers the nurses suffered too. I am always incredibly moved and heartened, especially when a veteran tells me that The Wall has helped them in some wayit could not mean more to me. Out of the nearly fifteen hundred entries in the competition, the eight jurors of the selection committee unanimously chose Maya Lins design on May 6, 1981. Significant funding cuts to programs that had been instigated in the 1960s under Lyndon Johnsons Great Society domestic agenda followed, in addition to a major attack on union power. Why was the Vietnam War Memorial so controversial? - 2023 It was surreal.. The peasants resented being forced from their ancestral lands, and consolidating them gave the VC better targets. He cited the growing coalition was a prime example of its not what you know, its who you know. These people, though a small group, were able to reach out to their networks and their extensive contacts to recruit the type of expertise and support required for such a mammoth initiative. to the memorial, as well as the rituals that take place there and what role the memorial may be playing in the construction of a his-tory of the Vietnam War.8 Beyond the academic discourse, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has also in-spired a considerable popular literature. By now, we are so accustomed to its visual rhetoricthe polished black granite, the lists of names, the horizontal positioningthat to think of these components as anything but standard practice takes an act of real imagination. Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation. They are a treasure of design insight and included many prescient thoughts as to how the Memorial would likely be experienced, Spreiregen wrote of Clays notes. Why the Vietnam War Memorial is amazing - Military Times Another article in the same issue of the Post echoed Wolfes definition of the terms of the debate, commenting that: There is a discordance between the sophisticated wall and the unsophisticated statue. Waiting meant they would never reach their dedication deadline of November 11, 1982. To its own surprise, Hanoi found its forces advancing rapidly toward Saigon, realized victory was at hand, and renamed the operation the Ho Chi Minh Offensive. 6 Things You May Not Know About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. . Over the next few years, as the war came to a close and more and more troops returned home, the media began to paint a picture of the stereotypical Vietnam veteran: drug addicted, bitter, discontented, and unable to adjust to life back home. In an interview he was asked if there was light at the end of the tunnel, and he responded that the U.S. and its allies had turned a corner in Vietnam. The design aroused a great deal of controversy, reflecting the lack of resolution of the national conflicts over the war as well as the lack of consensus over what constituted an appropriate memorial at the end of the 20th century. Memorials are built to give context and, possibly, meaning to suffering that is otherwise incomprehensible. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. In 1972 a poll determined he was the most trusted man in America.. Yet, this seemingly god-given shrine wears political feet of clay, and behind it lies a fierce controversy that re-opened the wounds of the war the memorial was designed to heal. For the millions of people who visit each year, Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall sends a chilling message about war, heroism, and sacrifice. The flag-waving crowds even cheered., Over the four days there were also workshops, parties, events, and reunions. The designs were received and processed in a large warehouse east of Washington. We didnt have any space, but I liked their idea and told them I would volunteer to help with all that I could.. There were four phases to the design competition spanning almost one year: planning and preparation; the launch; the design phase; the design evaluation and selection; the press conference and public presentation. Scruggs would never forget the awful scene. Some antiwar protestors blamed the men and women who served in Vietnam, taunting them and spitting on them when they came home. 170,000220,000 military Afghanistan and the forever war myth | Philip Collins IAI TV . Some opponents simply did not like the fact that Lin was a young student, a woman, and of Asian descent; how in the world could she possibly know how to honor the service of the Vietnam veteran? 13. 1) it commemorated an unpopular war. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history until the Afghanistan War (20012021). General Price, along with Senators Warner and Mathias and future Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, gave moving addresses before the command was given, and 150 shovels entered the ground with enthusiastic veterans enjoying the moment. The battle was suddenly over.. In the nine months since hed been in-country, Scruggs had already seen a lot of action and had been wounded in a battle near Xuan Loc. Despite the fact that beyond certain superficial qualities, Lins memorial shared little in common with the work of classic Minimalist artists such as Richard Serra or Donald Judd, critics nonetheless conflated it with Serras equally controversial Tilted Arc, labeling it another example of an inscrutable Minimalist public artwork erected at taxpayers expense. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. Charles Mac Mathias, a Navy veteran of World War II, had been opposed to the war in Vietnam, but he had always respected those who served in it. But the memorial might not exist in the form we see today if it weren't for the support of architects who defended the young architect's controversial design. On April 30, their tanks entered Saigon. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Daniel Libeskind. Using his findings, he testified at the Senate hearing on the Veterans Health Care Amendments Act of 1977, with the hope that he could help veterans gain access to the services and support they needed. Its mere existence would be societal recognition that their sacrifices were honorable rather than dishonorable. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (eBook) - Julia Hargrove 2002-03-01 The Vietnam conflict was one of the most controversial engagements in the history of the United States. I remind all of you of Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for justice for all Americans. Scruggs took two weeks off from his job at the Department of Labor to develop the idea further. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. The first American fatality was Air Force Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr., killed June 8, 1956. Its detractors perceived it as "a monument to defeat, one that spoke more directly to a nation's guilt than to the honor of the war dead and the veterans," describing it as the "black gash of shame," the "degrading ditch," and a "wailing wall for draft dodgers and New Lefters of the future." 4 Responding to its lack of Following a march by thousands of veterans through the streets of Washington, D.C., to the National Mall site, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 13, 1982. Each contestant sealed his or her name in an envelope and taped it to the back of the submission. After Lins monument was dedicated on November 13, 1982, however, it became a popular and moving tourist attraction. Frustrated, Nixon ordered the big bombersB-52sto strike Hanoi, beginning December 16 (Operation LINEBACKER). Ultimately, the Commission of Fine Arts, which had the final say in the matter, overruled Lins objections. The ARVN bent but did not break. On January 21, 1970, Jan Scruggs was having his morning cup of coffee, but he was far from his kitchen table at home. Spreiregen wrote, I saw this as a needed opportunity to honor the service and lives of the soldiers we had lost and do so by running a model competition., Arthur Mosley headed the site selection task group and was assisted by John Woods, a structural engineer, who had been permanently disabled in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. The fact that such nongovernmental entities as the New York Times, CNN, and the Max Protetch Gallery took it upon themselves to solicit designs for both the new World Trade Center buildings and for suitable memorials to the attacks indicates the extent to which the American public writ large was attuned to the sites future. (Woods continues to serve on VVMFs Board of Directors to this day. On that January day, There was a big explosion, Scruggs recalled. The first fundraising letter was signed by Bob Hope. Two U.S. helicopter units arrived in Saigon in 1961. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: from Controversy to Healing Because he possessed great knowledge of history, he understood the extensive healing process required after war. Spreiregen recommended having a multi-disciplinary panel: two architects, two landscape architects, two sculptors, and one generalist with extensive knowledge about art, architecture, and design. Everyone wanted to join the effort. Like all stereotypes, this one was unfair. At the time of the memorials design, many veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange, a chemical weapon used by the U.S. military as an herbicide and defoliant, still suffered ongoing health problems. However, the media was not the only entity invested in the veterans compelling predicament. North Vietnam Many pushed friends in wheelchairs. On November 11, 1984, the servicemen statue and a U.S. flag were formally added to the memorial, and the combined monument was placed under the control of the National Park Service. They found that they were very real people who did many of the same things they did, recalled Spreiregen. Johnson wanted to focus on instituting Great Society programs at home, but Vietnam was a snake he did not dare let go of. American Artist discusses science fiction in the context of contemporary art and the concept of Colored Time.. He had studied the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, a student of Sigmund Freud, who wrote of shared societal values. In November 2003, the LMDC placed the proposals of the eight finalists on display for public review.16 According to Sturken and art historian Anne Swartz, criticism of the designs, including that of the eventual winner, Peter Walkers and Michael Arads Reflecting Absence, revolved in large part around their perceived minimalist aesthetic, once again drawing on the rhetoric involved in the Tilted Arc debate. Ibid. More than 150,000 veterans, families, loved ones and friends made plans to attend. Wheeler recruited others to help, starting with a group of professional men, all Vietnam or Vietnam-era veterans: George Sandy Mayo, Arthur Mosley, John Morrison, Paul Haaga, Bill Marr, John Woods and certified public accountant Bob Frank, who agreed to become VVMFs treasurer. For years, American society as a whole, regardless of political affiliation, had studiously ignored Vietnam veterans, their presence a painful reminder of the wars moral ambiguity. As VVMF focused on fundraising, Sens. Ibid. But, say those opposed, the men represent the women, the men represent all soldiers . VVMFagreed to the statue compromise, as well as to adding a flag and to reviewing the inscription on the Memorial, but they did not want to wait untila statue was designed before breaking ground. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also called The Wall, national monument in Washington, D.C., honouring members of the U.S. armed forces who served and died in the Vietnam War (195575). History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. It's the most-visited memorial on the National Mall in Washington, attracting more than 5 million people each year - the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Maya Lins original competition submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. You may have been tear-choked as you touched or watched others touch "the Wall" at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the most visited war memorial in our nation's capital. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. That disparity would decline before the war ended, but the racial tensions at home began to insert themselves into the military in Vietnam, damaging unit morale. He had spent three months recovering in a hospital before being sent back to fight with rocket-propelled grenade fragments permanently embedded in his body. (Some in the North Vietnamese government thought the course of war in the south was unwise, but they were overruled.) As soon as ground was broken for The Wall in March 1982, planning for its dedication ceremonies began. Yet, this seemingly god-given shrine wears political feet of clay, and behind it lies a fierce controversy that re-opened the wounds of the war the memorial was designed to heal. Seven more such immolations occurred that year. In fact, he would spend a lifetime trying to honor their memory. Movies were dealing more realistically with their issues. Our country needed something symbolic to help heal our wounds.. Congress swiftly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that removed most restrictions from the president in regards to Vietnam. The NVA suffered some 120,000 casualties. An author, teacher, and lecturer, Spreiregen had written the authoritative book on design competitions. The wall is the centerpiece of the memorial and is made up of two black granite walls, each 246 feet in length and 10 feet in height. Vietnam veteran Joseph Zengerle, then an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, volunteered the use of an aircraft hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. He found that returning veterans were finding it hard to trust people. . All of them realized how critical it was that a memorial be apolitical. The Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 19541975. By the March 31, 1981, deadline, 1,421 design entries were submitted for judging. Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. Many felt it should be composed primarily of veterans; others felt it should be made up only of professionals; some thought a mix of the two would be best. An ad hoc group of veterans had scheduled a meeting to try to use Vietnam Veterans Week to generate publicity for veterans need, and Scruggs thought that would be a good time to announce his plans. Today, The Wall continues to be the most-visited memorial on the National Mall, attracting more than five million people each year. First Inaugural Address (January 20, 1981), Ronald Wilson Reagan, Miller Center For Public Affairs, University of Virginia, accessed April 21, 2011, https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3407. The idea for a memorial seemed like a natural extension of his work and his growing desire to find a way to help veterans. The priorities were to launch fund raising and achieve passage of the authorizing legislation. But instead of enthusiasm, he received skepticism. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26, 1982. In August of 1981, VVMF selected a building company and architecture firm to develop the plans and build Lins design. Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? South Vietnam With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. Working with the construction manager, GilbaneBuilding Company, the design team had to locate the appropriate type of granite: a flawless, reflective, deep ebony stone. Color meant nothing on the battlefields of Korea and Vietnam. A s memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. Frederick Hart. Adding to Americans disillusionment was the race issue. CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see for himself what was happening. Mathias and Warner continued to rally support and ferry the legislation. As the commentaries of Wolfe, the New Republic, and the National Review demonstrate, the media was happy to add fuel to the fire of the veterans indignation through editorial contributions and obsessive coverage of the debate. The U.S. suffered over 47,000 killed in action, Kennedy himself was assassinated in Dallas, VC and NVA units launched a massive attack, CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam, https://www.historynet.com/the-vietnam-war-a-history-of-americas-controversial-war/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. The administration was caught by surprise, however, when Diem was murdered during the coup, which was led by General Duong Van Minh. Why Were Vietnam War Vets Treated Poorly When They . By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. On Saturday, a grand parade took place where veterans marched joyously out of sync, some hand-in-hand or with their arms draped around one another, holding banners, flags, and signs. The communist takeover of China and subsequent war in Korea (1950-53) against North Korean and Chinese troops had focused a great deal of attention on Southeast Asia as a place to take a strong stand against the spread of communism. ), For three solid months, Spreiregen, Mosley, Woods, and Doubek planned the competition. Kennedy saw American efforts in Southeast Asia almost as a crusade and believed increasing the military advisor program, coupled with political reform in South Vietnam, would strengthen the south and bring peace.