why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. The selected design then had to go through Federal agency approval and development into finished plans. Selecting a design that would meet the criteria demanded a jury that could grasp the significance of the Memorials purpose and understand the unique needs of Vietnam veterans, their families, and a country divided. Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! He has written that he was prepared for a 25-year war; he realized he did not have to achieve military victory; he only had to avoid losing. Editors note: This essay was originally published on Art21.org in November 2011. Westmoreland adopted a search-and-destroy policy to find and engage the enemy and use superior firepower to destroy him. 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. I remind all of you of Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for justice for all Americans. He found that returning veterans were finding it hard to trust people. Unlike previous wars, where only still images or short movie newsreels were available for conveying images, this was Americas first television war. However, the media was not the only entity invested in the veterans compelling predicament. And Congress had declared a Vietnam Veterans Week for that April to honor those who had returned home. It consists of a black granite wall with the names of over 58,000 soldiers who were killed or went missing in action inscribed on it. That bothered him. Early in his efforts Scruggs had called on Emogene Cupp, then the national president of the American Gold Star Mothers. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Earlier, Wild Bill Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II forerunner of the CIA, had also advised that the U.S. had nothing to gain and much to lose by becoming involved in what was then French Indochina. Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Location, History & FAQs It was surreal.. Corruption and instability in South Vietnams government did not instill confidence in its people, or in the Americans working with it. Her only son Robert, an Army draftee, was killed by a land mine on his 21st birthday, June 6, 1968. On June 11, 1963, an elderly Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc sat down in the street in front of a pagoda in Saigon to protest Diems policies. The Three Soldiers (also known as The Three Servicemen) is a bronze statue by Frederick Hart. To achieve this effect she chose polished black granite for the walls. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. In this sense, it was a complex ideological battle. For weeks, he obsessed about the idea of building a memorial. 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. Though a congressional investigative committee the previous year had warned that America could find itself slipping into in a morass that would require more and more military participation in Vietnam, Johnson began a steady escalation of the war, hoping to bring it to a quick conclusion. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. In an article in the Washington Post, writer Tom Wolfe defined the debate over the inclusion of Harts figurative memorial as a story of art experts and the Vietnam veteransand of how the veterans asked for a war memorial and wound up with an enormous pit they now refer to as a tribute to Jane Fonda. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. 4. Ibid. Names of all who died in the war or . The wars length and the growing number of casualties were fueling tensions. His successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, inherited the Vietnam situation. (His son, Marine Corps lance corporal Richard Fitzgibbon III would be killed in action in Vietnam September 7, 1965. By endowing memorials with the ability to accomplish these tasks, we bestow them with an extraordinary amount of power and authority. and was so hurt by the controversy . 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. A tabula rasa upon which individuals could project their individual, personal experiences of the war was what the VVMF desired and, as historian Marita Sturken and others have observed, a tabula rasa was what they got. Because the U.S. failed to achieve a military victory and the Republic of South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnam, the Vietnam experience became known as the only war America ever lost. It remains a very controversial topic that continues to affect political and military decisions today. Architectural drawings and a one-page written summary, 1980 or 1981. Scruggs and Doubek met with Mathias to outline their plans. 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. 4: The Artistic Controversy, 3/1982-11/1985 >>>>> 1988. Usually it refers to the period when the United States and other members of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) joined the forces with the Republic of South Vietnam to contest communist forces, comprised of South Vietnamese guerrillas and regular-force units, generally known as Viet Cong (VC), and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. The Vietnam Wall Controversy - About - Overview - Lehigh University The walls are inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 men and women . A chronological listing would also allow a returning veteran to find his or her time of service on The Wall and those who died together to remain together forever on The Wall. Ibid. Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Encyclopedia.com 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. It claimed,In one day of ferocious fighting we had eliminated from the field of battle a total of 919 American troops, had knocked out 22 enemy vehicles and 13 helicopters, and had captured one M-14 rifle. Marine losses actually were 45 dead, 203 wounded, and a few vehicles damaged. Nonsense. . Instead they found bitterness and discontent and they were often disliked by the public. This message of personal responsibility, in contrast to governance by an elite group on behalf of individuals, became a hallmark of the Reagan administration. 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. However, polls consistently showed the majority of Americans supported the war. It was the Senators gut feeling that we needed to do this., This was serious business, Mathias said. "The veterans were asking me, 'What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?'" Lin recalls. The hope is that the creation of the Memorial will begin a healing process, Doubek wrote. His reasoning was that a complete mess would make it tough to stop construction. North and South Vietnam were combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. Everything has to be thought out and in place before the launch button is pressed.. By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. Im sure I looked like a deer in the headlights, I was so nervous, Scruggs recalled. 1. All of these items are stored in a museum-quality facility in Landover, Maryland. Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. Ronald Reagans election in November 1980 ushered in the Reagan Revolution, and the first few years of Reagans presidency saw the largest tax cuts in American history. In November, a coup deposed Diem, with the blessing of Kennedys administration, which had quietly assured South Vietnams military leaders it was not adverse to a change in leadership and military aid would continue. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). On the second day, the jury examined the designs together, walking the many aisles and stopping at each of the 232 designs that had been flagged by one or more of the jurors, pausing to discuss each design that had been noted. Maya Lin, has gone on to become a respected architect and artist, with a studio in New York City. General Westmoreland had been promoted to Army Chief of Staff and replaced in Vietnam by Gen. Creighton Abrams. While many veterans successfully reintegrated into their families and communities, tucking their experiences in combat away on a mental back shelf, others were unable to cope on their own. A lingering question of the war is what might have happened if Eisenhower and Ho had arranged a meeting; possibly, an accord could have been reached, or possibly Ho was simply seeking to limit American involvement, in order to more easily depose the Diem government. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - National Park Service In July 1959 Major Dale Buis and Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand were off duty when they were killed during an attack at Bien Hoa. We do not memorialize bus accidents, which by nature are contextless, meaningless. . Color meant nothing on the battlefields of Korea and Vietnam. Confused times need simple forms., According to the description of the design concept: The jury chose a design which will stimulate thought rather than contain it.. They treated the moms the same as they treated the vets. Could a memorial accomplish such an enormous and daunting task? The pilot of an F-8E Crusader did not see any ships in the area where the enemy was reported, and years later crew members said they never saw attacking craft. A few preliminary concepts were embraced. Because Warner was from Virginia and Mathias from Maryland, the two had worked together on many regional issues. Vietnam veterans memorial controversy. Vietnam War Memorial Black is not a color of shame. I ran over to see a truck on fire and a dozen of my friends dying. They had been unloading an ammunition truck when the explosion occurred. Sturken, 322; Anne Swartz, American Art After September 11: A Consideration of the Twin Towers, Symploke 14, nos. Under those agreements, Cambodia and Laoswhich had been part of the French colonyreceived their independence. Jan came to our headquarters to see if we had any room to help them get started, Cupp remembered. The memorial consists of three parts: the Three Servicemen Statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Two nights later, Maddox and the destroyer USS Turner Joy were on patrol in the Gulf and reported they were under attack. After working alone for six months, Doubek was joined on the staff by Kathy Kielich, who served as the Office Manager throughout the project. Before he spoke, however, all eyes had turned toward the kitchen door, from which has emerged his then-wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. He would never forget those friends. Post-war, the French tried to re-establish control but faced organized opposition from the Viet Minh (short for Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi, or League for the Independence of Vietnam), led by Ho Chi Minh and Giap. The controversial Vietnam War was long and drawn out, fought in a humid terrain alien to American soldiers. I remember The Washington Post had pages and pages of stories in the A section. Vietnam veterans were, at long last, receiving the recognition they deserved. Both Scruggss and the VVMFs statements clearly conveyed that the memorial the veterans sought was to be an apolitical tabula rasa that would neither contribute to nor comment upon the unresolved controversies surrounding the war. That would have made any negotiation with Ho politically ticklish. Why reinforce the bourgeoisies pathetic illusions? On January 30, 1968, during Vietnams celebration of Tet, the lunar new year, VC and NVA units launched a massive attack in every province of South Vietnam. Just before Christmas 1979, Warner hosted a fundraising breakfast in his Georgetown home. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. A few of the most vocal opponents, including James Webb and H. Ross Perot, had previously been strong supporters of a memorial. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. Everyone wanted to join the effort. 9. By the March 31, 1981, deadline, 1,421 design entries were submitted for judging. The memorial should be conciliatory, transcending the tragedy of the war.3. By 1979, the country was beginning to have more positive feelings toward Vietnam veterans. One film that came out early that year,The Deer Hunter,explored the effects of war on three friends, their families and a tight-knit community. New York Close Up artist Dan Herschlein, and professor, Chad Laird, discuss the intersection of contemporary art, film and horror. Doubek approached Scruggs after the meeting and suggested that he form a nonprofit corporation as a vehicle to build a memorial. This began a series of destabilizing changes in government leadership. 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. The original design proposal called for all of the names to be individually hand-chiseled in the stone, but it was soon realized the time and money it would take to do that were impractical. It would help veterans heal. Sturken notes, "the memorial was seen 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." The disagreements over the design revealed anxiety about ownership of the war's representation. That afternoon, the winning design was selected, said Spreiregen. American helicopters rescued members of its embassy and flew some South Vietnamese to safety, but most were left behind. My background was relatively modest, he said. Together, we can make sure our heroes will get the reverence they deserve and the stories and sacrifices of our heroes will never be forgotten. 14. The controversy over the planned 9/11 memorial at the former site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, which began nearly a decade ago, harkened back to the debates of the early 1980s and heralds the current resurgence of cultural warfare. By the time he returned home, three months after the explosion, the country was even further divided. The ceasefire allowed Nixon to declare peace with honor, but no provisions existed for enforcing the terms of the accords. Together with Spreiregen, he composed a report based on these thoughtful comments. Initially, however, homefront support for the war effort grew, but by March Americans, perceiving no change in strategy that would bring the war to a conclusion, became increasingly disillusioned. Ho Chi Minh had been educated in Paris. Associated Press correspondent Malcolm Mal Browne photographed him sitting quietly in the lotus position as the flames consumed him. Tour Washington D.C.'s Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknowns, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vietnam-Veterans-Memorial, How Stuff Works - History - Vietnam Veterans Memorial, National Park Service - Vietnam Veterans Memorial. ARVN divisions in the north were surrounded and routed. Climbing Hamburger Hill 50 years after the Vietnam War's The Battle of Hamburger Hill was fought May 10-20, 1969, during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. Popular dark tourism attractions include Auschwitz, Chernobyl and Ground Zero. Letters came from moms, dads, grandparents, sons and daughters with heartfelt notes accompanied by checks and dollar bills. Joe Biden's slogan that it was time "to end the forever war" in Afghanistan was called imbecilic by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. 2) It applauded feminist efforts. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. The peasants resented being forced from their ancestral lands, and consolidating them gave the VC better targets. 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. Frustrated, Nixon ordered the big bombersB-52sto strike Hanoi, beginning December 16 (Operation LINEBACKER). Mathias and Warner continued to rally support and ferry the legislation. These meanings serve as unifying forces, reinforcing the idea of a shared national identity and healing rifts in the communal experience of nationhood. The VC were often supplemented by units of the Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN), more often called simply the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) by those fighting against it. The plan, however, was eventually scrapped, once the initial haggling over the racial identity of the firefighters gave way to accusations of political correctness on the part of the memorials planners.20. It was becoming apparent that we had been able to be instruments to something far greater than anything we had ever imagined.. Our country needed something symbolic to help heal our wounds.. North Vietnam, had by then established a presence in Laos and developed the Ho Chi Minh Trail through that country in order to resupply and reinforce its forces in South Vietnam. ), For three solid months, Spreiregen, Mosley, Woods, and Doubek planned the competition. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. In the Shadow of the Washington Monument. The division was supposed to be temporary: elections were to be held in both sections in 1956 to determine the countrys future. By early 1980, contributions started to arrive. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. It seemed unfair and inappropriate that there should be no recognition.. The Best Answer To The Question Why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial? 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.

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