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The eldest juror, Pietro Belluschi, took a full day, said Spreiregen. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) . Because Warner was from Virginia and Mathias from Maryland, the two had worked together on many regional issues. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located in Washington D.C., is a tribute to the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. The priorities were to launch fund raising and achieve passage of the authorizing legislation. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? Timing is everything, and enough time had passed. 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. Guerrilla warfare (asymmetrical warfare) does not permit such clear-cut data. Early on in the effort to get the Memorial built, there were traces of controversy. 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. It was such a great cause, and they were bound and determined to make it happen.. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Doubek approached Scruggs after the meeting and suggested that he form a nonprofit corporation as a vehicle to build a memorial. The names are inscribed in the chronological order of their dates of casualty, showing the war as a series of individual human sacrifices and giving each name a special place in history. Daniel Abramson, Maya Lin and the 1960s: Monuments, Time Lines, and Minimalism, Critical Inquiry 22, no. 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. The added component of military security made the location even more attractive, since it would ensure no interference with the designs or the judging. The first fundraising letter was signed by Bob Hope. However, that posed a problem of how tolocate an individual name. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. North Vietnam 400,000 1 million military The memorial consists of three parts: the Three Servicemen Statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Following its dedication, Lins memorial quickly became the prototype for American war memorials. On November 8, 1979, VVMF held a press conference in which Mathias, Warner, and several others announced the introduction of legislation to grant two acres of land near the Lincoln Memorial for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There is also disharmony between the nay-saying wall and the unequivocally proud flag [] And nothing has happened to make Maya Lins creation look less like what it suggests to some veterans and some non-combatant citizens: an open grave.'9. Consequently, by the time of the memorials design and construction, veterans had built up a significant amount of moral outrage and found their outlet in the controversy over the memorial. The design competition also needed to be able to attract design competitors.. The memorial, located near the western end of the Mall, is a black granite V-shaped wall inscribed with the names of the approximately 58,000 men and women who were killed or missing in action. The earliest of these battles was the controversy over Lins design. 1) it commemorated an unpopular war. In the Shadow of the Washington Monument. 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. Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. No government funds would be necessary. An article by Hugh Sidey in the February 22, 1982, issue ofTIMEmagazine described the session: A few days ago, 40 supporters and critics of the memorial gathered to try to break the impasse that threatened the memorial because of such features as the black color of the stone and its position below ground level. Reflecting Absence (planned design for memorial to victims of attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001). By years end, 23,000 American military personnel would be in South Vietnam. By years end, 2,573 individuals and teams had registered almost 3,800 people in total. Casualties for the Republic of South Vietnam will never be adequately resolved. Washington, D.C. As memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. Why was the Vietnam War Memorial so controversial? - 2023 Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? We do not seek to make any statement about the correctness of the war, Scruggs said. For this reason, in Vietnam today it is known as the American War. (Woods continues to serve on VVMFs Board of Directors to this day. It seemed unconscionable that heor anyone elseshould be allowed to forget. The NVA suffered some 120,000 casualties. 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. We expect them to do the work of history writing, to draw single comprehensible narratives out of a Gorgons nest of individual, often contradictory, experiences. The domino fell but did not take down any of those around it. The public wanted to have a hand in helping to build the Memorial and in honoring the warrior, not the war. Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. https://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/r3/october/, https://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/r4/1982/, https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3407, Extending Beyond Craftsmanship, into Inquiry and Exploration, Horror, Contemporary Art, and Film: In Conversation with Dan Herschlein and Chad Laird. 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. I remind all of you of Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for justice for all Americans. . Hanoi offered to restart peace talks, yet remained intransigent in its demands. Names of all who died in the war or . Eventually, a compromise was reached with the commissioning of a traditional statue depicting three servicemen with a flag to stand at the entrance to the memorial. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: from Controversy to Healing 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). This would be a war without a front or a rear; it would involve full-scale combat units and individuals carrying out terrorist activities such as the Brink Hotel bombing. The division was supposed to be temporary: elections were to be held in both sections in 1956 to determine the countrys future. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. The Three Servicemen Statue Vietnam Women's Memorial And Vietnam 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. One day in October 1969, fifteen members of the Americal Division wore black armbands while they were on patrol, the symbol antiwar protestors wore in the states. Im sure I looked like a deer in the headlights, I was so nervous, Scruggs recalled. The task groups proved effective, as described by John Woods, who jointed as a key advisor. Black is not a color of shame. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - Definition, Cause & Significance - HISTORY Ibid. The walls are inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 men and women . An electrical storm was interfering with the ships radar and may have given the impression of approaching attack boats. Vietnam has a long history of being ruled by foreign powers, and this led many Vietnamese to see the United States involvement in their country as neo-colonialism. He would never forget those friends. Johnson wanted to focus on instituting Great Society programs at home, but Vietnam was a snake he did not dare let go of. Scruggs and Doubek realized that Cupp could be instrumental in helping communicate the all-important personal, emotional side of the healing story. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. Some felt that the money to build a memorial could be better spent delivering the many services veterans needed. Mathias and Warner continued to rally support and ferry the legislation. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. Descriptions of the desired qualities for the memorial design included harmonious, contemplative and reflective, and again, conciliatory.2 The booklet concluded with the following passage: Finally, we wish to repeat that the memorial is not to be a political statement, and that its purpose is to honor the service and memory of the wars dead, its missing, and its veteransnot the war itself. Similarly, casualty totals among the VC and NVA and the number of dead and wounded civilians in North Vietnam cannot be determined exactly. Waiting meant they would never reach their dedication deadline of November 11, 1982. The Three Soldiers. The peasants resented being forced from their ancestral lands, and consolidating them gave the VC better targets. By 1979, the country was beginning to have more positive feelings toward Vietnam veterans. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history until the Afghanistan War (20012021). If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. From the beginning, people have left tributes at its base. There were so many people helping to get the legislation [passed], remembered Healy. 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. Mai also remembers being annoyed when her playtime was interrupted by the air-raid sirens. Never before or since have journalists been given such complete access to cover a war. The shift, however, did not represent a resolved conflict between public art and public memory and memorialization, but merely a temporary relocation of the site of debate. The Vietnam War: Facts & Info About the Most Controversial - HistoryNet 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. 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 NVA had to take over. Because he possessed great knowledge of history, he understood the extensive healing process required after war. The hope is that the creation of the Memorial will begin a healing process, Doubek wrote. 7. The In Memory plaque, dedicated in 2004, is near The Three Servicemen and honors the men and women who died as a result of their service in Vietnam. During the Second World War, Vichy France could do little to protect its colony from Japanese occupation. The three of them had different strengths, Healy explained. Millionaire H. Ross Perot made a sizeable donation. The location secured, the seemingly uncontroversial process of articulating goals for a memorial and staging a competition draws over 1100 entries then the largest such design competition in the United States and the winner is Maya Lin's "Wall. Everyone wanted to join the effort. The memorial was built to honor that spirit and the sacrifice of so many who gave everything they had to give. 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. It was a direct result of the First Indochina War (19461954) between France, which claimed Vietnam as a colony, and the communist forces then known as Viet Minh. One of Mathias early key suggestions was that the memorial should be on the Mall, especially because the anti-war demonstrations had taken place there. The battle was suddenly over.. The Vietnam War was a divisive and politically polemic war. That afternoon, the winning design was selected, said Spreiregen. (An American medic treated him during World War II, probably saving his life.) The design Lin envisioned listed the names chronologically by date of casualty. As VVMF focused on fundraising, Sens. The text size is less than half an inch, which is unusual for monument design, but was selected to make the memorial read more like a book. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Washington DC 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. More than 150,000 veterans, families, loved ones and friends made plans to attend. In retaliation for the invasion, and in hopes of forcing Hanoi to negotiate in good faith, Nixon ordered Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam to be mined and he intensified bombing of North Vietnam. 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. One example, cited in Grab Their Belts to Fight Them: The Viet Congs Big-Unit War Against the U.S., 19651966, by Warren Wilkins, is a description of the first major battle between the VC and American ForcesU.S. It ended with communist victory in April 1975. Never in the history of the United States had a national memorial been conceived, approved, built and dedicated in that short an amount of time. These mass-media fictions enabled the very real neglect of veterans by the institutions tasked with tending to their needs. Mathias also knew the country was ready, Healy recalled. American intelligence knew an attack was coming, though the Army had downplayed a New York Times report of large communist troop movements heading south. New York Close Up artist Dan Herschlein, and professor, Chad Laird, discuss the intersection of contemporary art, film and horror. The insurgency was called the National Liberation Front (PLF); however, its soldiers and operatives became more commonly known by their opponents as the Viet Cong (VC), short for Vietnamese Communists. Sturken, 320. Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. Why the Battle for Hamburger Hill Was So Controversial. The Vietnam Wall, as it's commonly known, stands as a tribute to the war's veterans, who consider it a tangible symbol that the American people recognized and honored for their service. They stressed that all funds for the Memorial would be raised from private donations. The French suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, leading to negotiations that ended with the Geneva Agreements, July 21, 1954. 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? They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. Private Funding No government funds were used to build the memorial, only public land. (Ten times as many Vietnamese had fled the north, where the Communist Party was killing off its rivals, seizing property, and oppressing the large Catholic population.) Yet, to say the media cost America victory in Vietnam is vastly oversimplifying a very complex situation. Westmoreland adopted a search-and-destroy policy to find and engage the enemy and use superior firepower to destroy him. Ibid. Crowd at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1982. Shortly after the dedication of the land for the memorial, the VVMF announced an open competition for designs for the memorial itself. Then, in October 1980, veteran and lawyer Tom Carhart, also a former supporter, testified before the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) against the design, saying that One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. It was designed by American architect Maya Lin. 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 15,000 in uniforms and civvies, walked among floats, bands and baton twirlers. The Memorial had several purposes, he explained. Why reinforce the bourgeoisies pathetic illusions? Such images pack tremendous emotional punch but often lack context. Her only son Robert, an Army draftee, was killed by a land mine on his 21st birthday, June 6, 1968. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. Every 15 minutes, there was a pause for prayer. Letters came from moms, dads, grandparents, sons and daughters with heartfelt notes accompanied by checks and dollar bills. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. It was like a Woodstock atmosphere in Washington for those who had served in Vietnam, recalled Scruggs. Its primary goal was to demoralize the North Vietnamese and diminish their manufacturing and transportation abilities. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. 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. 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. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. It just resonated, he explained. That bothered him. Bob was the detail person and a good writer. How were Vietnam veterans treated when they returned from the war? Each contestant sealed his or her name in an envelope and taped it to the back of the submission. CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see for himself what was happening. As time progressed it caused more and more controversy in the United States. End-to-end, the total number of submissions would have stretched one and one third linear miles. 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. Lacking sufficient services to assist their recovery, some of these unassimilated veterans turned to alcohol and other drugs, their addictions only sending them further to the margins of society. Perhaps thats an appropriate design for those who would spit on us still. We didnt have any space, but I liked their idea and told them I would volunteer to help with all that I could.. As soon as ground was broken for The Wall in March 1982, planning for its dedication ceremonies began. But can America truly mean that we should feel honored by that black pit?6. ever and endured a raging national controversy over the avant-garde . 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. 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. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. The list of tasks to achieve such a goal seemed endless. Associated Press correspondent Malcolm Mal Browne photographed him sitting quietly in the lotus position as the flames consumed him. 6 Things You May Not Know About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Frustrated, Nixon ordered the big bombersB-52sto strike Hanoi, beginning December 16 (Operation LINEBACKER). On September 30, 1964, the first large-scale antiwar demonstration took place in America, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. We had been friends for a long time, Mathias said. The Draft - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Popular dark tourism attractions include Auschwitz, Chernobyl and Ground Zero. Sturken, 322. while the veterans were primarily concerned with the ability of the design to offer emotional comfort to veterans and the families of the dead, either in terms of forgiveness or honor.7. Maya Lin was practically a kid when her design was selected to become the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Mathias and Warner continually stressed that their objective was to provide the country with a symbol for reconciliation. Others questioned the intent of the Memorial. The VVMF group liked them all and approved of them with trust and enthusiasm, even selecting three sculptors, making a total of eight jurors. Here's how a controversial work of art healed America after Vietnam Ultimately, one of the greatest challenges was how to get that many names on the wall panels in such a short period of time. Lin vociferously objected to the inclusion of Harts piece, arguing that it violated the integrity of [her] design and created the sensation of being watched, as if one were on a golf green. As Sturken points out, this did little to evoke veterans sympathy: Lin stuck to her position as an outsider . On July 9, 1964, China had announced it would step in if the U.S. attacked North Vietnam, as China had done in the Korean War. This fear evolved into the Domino Theory; if one country fell to communist control, its neighbors would also soon fall like a row of dominos. The Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 19541975. By Thursday morning, it was down to 39. 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. With the introduction of legislation, the VVMF leaders realized that it was time to transition from a volunteer committee and to open a staffed office. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. The Memorials walls point to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, thus bringing the Memorial into the historical context of our country. On January 21, 1970, Jan Scruggs was having his morning cup of coffee, but he was far from his kitchen table at home. You had to live through that period to really understand it. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemys intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. One of the lingering legacies of the Vietnam War is the widespread belief in America that the media cost us the war in Vietnam. Images such as the burning monk; South Vietnamese Police Chief Lt. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Loan about to pull the trigger of a pistol pointed at the head of a bound VC prisoner; of a naked young girl running crying down a road after an American napalm strike that left her badly burnedthese images and others became seared into the minds of Americans on the homefront, and in those of civilians in allied nations such as Australia. The wars length and the growing number of casualties were fueling tensions. She was regularly swept up and raced to the bomb shelter with her parents and siblings. Healing meant many things to many people. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. By early 1982, VVMF asked Warner to bring together both sides for a closed-door session to hammer out the issues. Furthermore, the extreme visual simplicity of Lins monument made it easy for critics to utilize it in a concurrent debate about the merits of minimalist sculptures as public artworks. North Vietnam spent two years rebuilding its military; South Vietnam was hamstrung in its responses by a fear the U.S. Congress would cut off all aid if it took military action against communist buildup. 4: The Artistic Controversy, 3/1982-11/1985 >>>>> 1988. The solution on how to locate a name evolved into a directory of names with an alphabetical listing andthe panel and line number of each name. It's the most-visited memorial on the National Mall in Washington, attracting more than 5 million people each year - the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Success was measured in body count. It was to be a war of attrition and statistics, a policy that suited Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who distrusted the military and often bypassed the Joint Chiefs of Staff in issuing directives. Sturken, 321. Ultimately, the Commission of Fine Arts, which had the final say in the matter, overruled Lins objections. Maya Lin, has gone on to become a respected architect and artist, with a studio in New York City. During the 1970s, it . The first American fatality was Air Force Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr., killed June 8, 1956. The memorial itself, was a . News footage showed the fighting in Saigon and Hue. His successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, inherited the Vietnam situation. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Or, people would tell me, Well why did you let him go? Of course, what choice do you have?. This alliance between the veterans and their conservative defenders was a new one, forged as a direct result of the cultural battle over the memorial site. Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. Diem fell from favor with his American patrons, partly over disagreements in how to handle the war against the VC and partly because of his unpopular suppression of religious sects and anyone he feared threatened his regime. After the dedication, Scruggs and Wheeler walked together along the upper side of the Memorial ground, near Constitution Avenue. 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. . Social critics and commentators quickly picked up and elaborated on Carharts characterization of the memorial. The U.S., which had been gradually exerting influence after the departure of the French government, backed Diem in order to limit the area under communist control. Movies were dealing more realistically with their issues. The entire text size and layout Lin saw as an open book. The women soldiers the nurses suffered too. Laos, South Vietnam: 850,000 History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund The designs were received and processed in a large warehouse east of Washington. 3 (August 2004): 122. Marling and Silberman, 11. After working alone for six months, Doubek was joined on the staff by Kathy Kielich, who served as the Office Manager throughout the project. Ironically, the leadership of North Vietnam came to a similar conclusion: they had to inflict enough casualties on Americans to end support for the war on the U.S. homefront and force a withdrawal before the U.S. could build up sufficient numbers of men and material to defeat them. It was becoming apparent that we had been able to be instruments to something far greater than anything we had ever imagined..