(Woods continues to serve on VVMFs Board of Directors to this day. The design team and VVMF searched for a way for the names to be sandblasted rather than hand-carved. 4 (Summer 1996): 685. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located in Washington D.C., is a tribute to the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. American troops had won every major battle they fought, and General Nguyen Van Thieu had come to power in South Vietnam in September; he would remain in office until 1975, bringing a new measure of stability to the government, though he could not end its endemic corruption. The Memorial had several purposes, he explained. 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. These mass-media fictions enabled the very real neglect of veterans by the institutions tasked with tending to their needs. Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. An air war was the most that could be done north of the 17th parallel, because the use of ground troops had been ruled out. Among other duties, Healy was the member of Mathias staff who handled memorials and worked as the liaison with the U.S. Department of the Interior. Everyone wanted to join the effort. Some felt that the money to build a memorial could be better spent delivering the many services veterans needed. Scruggs, Wheeler, and Doubek then scouted the Mall sometimes by bicycle to identify the ideal spot: a stretch of parkland known as Constitution Gardens, located on the National Mall adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial. Once Scruggs decided to build the memorial, the next step was to get some people behind him. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. Many veterans, politicians, critics, and the general public read its refusal to explicitly glorify the war or frame the listed soldiers sacrifice in recognizably heroic terms as an ideological statement, proof of Linsand the memorialspurported anti-war position. He made an impassioned plea for funding to his guests, members of the defense industry. The memorial consists of three parts: the Three Servicemen Statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. 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. On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. 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. The Three Soldiers, 198284. Ibid. Many pushed friends in wheelchairs. The VC was effectively finished; it would not field more than 25,00040,000 troops at any time for the remainder of the war. 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. Over 1 million wounded, 50,000 plus civilian 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. Could it heal the chasm within society, promote closure, show gratitude to those who served, comfort those in grief, and remind future generations of the toll wrought by war? The first fundraising letter was signed by Bob Hope. By the March 31, 1981, deadline, 1,421 design entries were submitted for judging. Sturken, 125. About Vietnam Veterans Memorial. ever and endured a raging national controversy over the avant-garde . The added component of military security made the location even more attractive, since it would ensure no interference with the designs or the judging. And none of them discussed their own personal feelings or political views regarding the war. 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. Guerrilla warfare (asymmetrical warfare) does not permit such clear-cut data. On September 30, 1964, the first large-scale antiwar demonstration took place in America, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Millionaire H. Ross Perot made a sizeable donation. 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. I just kept thinking to myself how quiet it was, and yet there was an immense feeling of community. With such an overwhelming response to the competition, logistics became an issue. Lin became a design consultant to the architect of record. Sturken, 322. When I meet Vietnam veterans who stop me to say thank you for creating the Memorial, I always want to say: thank you, for the service and sacrifices that all of you have made in service to your country, she added. 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. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Before he spoke, however, all eyes had turned toward the kitchen door, from which has emerged his then-wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. It was like a Woodstock atmosphere in Washington for those who had served in Vietnam, recalled Scruggs. As soon as ground was broken for The Wall in March 1982, planning for its dedication ceremonies began. Wheeler suggested that it should be a landscaped solution: a peaceful, park-like setting that could exist harmoniously with the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Were all the result of our upbringing. The jury included: architects Pietro Belluschi and Harry Weese; landscape architects Hideo Sasaki and Garrett Eckbo; sculptors Costantino Nivola, Richard Hunt, and James Rosati; and Grady Clay, a journalist and editor of Landscape Architecture magazine. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. In the Shadow of the Washington Monument. They were the only father-son pair to die in Vietnam.) Wheeler had the idea to bypass the traditional site selection route and have Congress pass legislation to award a specific area for a memorial site. 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. From the registration forms, it was apparent that architects, artists, designers, as well as veterans and students of all ages and all levels of experience were planning to participate. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. It ended with communist victory in April 1975. On one side were the proponents of Lins memorials, defined in the media and the public imagination as Wolfes elitist art mullahs, draft dodgers, the future New Leftists, and, of course, followers of Jane Fonda (infamously dubbed Hanoi Jane after a trip to North Vietnam, during which she made statements condemning the U.S. military). 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. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? . The reputation of the jurors was important to attract the best designers and to minimize second guessing by the Federal approval bodies. In April 1995, Vietnams communist government said 1.1 million combatants had died between 1954 and 1975, and another 600,000 wounded. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. American drawdown continued, with only 43,000 personnel left in-country by mid-August. It was a direct result of the First Indochina War (1946-1954) between France, which claimed Vietnam as a colony, and the communist forces then known as Viet Minh. 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. 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. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. Similarly, casualty totals among the VC and NVA and the number of dead and wounded civilians in North Vietnam cannot be determined exactly. With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. American involvement began to escalate under President John F. Kennedys administration (January 1961November 1963). When the 18-year-old Scruggs volunteered to enlist in the Army in 1968, debate surrounding Vietnam was escalating. The South Vietnamese Army was showing improvement, winning 37 of their last 45 major engagements. Their motto is: Honor the dead by serving the living. Volunteering to assist VVMF was an ideal opportunity for Cupp to do just that. Casualties for the Republic of South Vietnam will never be adequately resolved. Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. He closed by saying: To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26, 1982. 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. 3) It provoked antiwar sentiment. And if they were bitter, who could blame them? 17. It seemed unfair and inappropriate that there should be no recognition.. By June 1977, Scruggs was attending graduate school at American University in Washington, D.C. and had embarked on a research study exploring the social and psychological consequences of Vietnam military duties. Four of the eight were themselves veterans of previous wars. The love and acceptance that the American people gave to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have continued unabated for over 25 years. In response to the designs submitted to these various competitions (generated by famed architects, artists, and members of the general public alike), conflicting interpretations once again revolved around notions of elitism versus populismharkening back to the language of the controversy over Lins memorial.14 In a 2002 debate with architect Daniel Libeskind on the matter, New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier commented, There is something a little grotesque in the interpretation of Ground Zero as a lucky break for art. It was designed by American architect Maya Lin. The names of the eight women who died in Vietnam are included on the list of over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Ibid. Video: As soon as the design was chosen,the next step was to consider the all-important details of getting it built. On January 27, 1973, peace accords were signed between North Vietnam and the U.S. It ended with communist victory in April 1975. 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. By the end of 1967, there were 540,000 American troops in Vietnam, and the military draft was set to call up 302,000 young men in the coming year, an increase of 72,000 over 1967. 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. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. Marling and Silberman, 11. A Space of Loss: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial - JSTOR 1. It would have power for individual veterans, but collectively, they would have even greater power to show the enormity of the sacrifices that were made.. The controversial Vietnam War was long and drawn out, fought in a humid terrain alien to American soldiers. American helicopters rescued members of its embassy and flew some South Vietnamese to safety, but most were left behind. An author, teacher, and lecturer, Spreiregen had written the authoritative book on design competitions. 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. A few preliminary concepts were embraced. They complained about the walls being black. 12. Why was the Vietnam women's memorial so significant? I remind all of you of Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for justice for all Americans. Swartz, 95. Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. His research had proven that post-traumatic stress was real and had shone a light on the challenges faced by a significant number of military veterans. United States: 540,000 The chief design criteria were that the memorial be 1) reflective and contemplative in character; 2) be harmonious with its site and environment, 3) make no political statement about the war itself, and 4) contain the names of all who died or remained missing. 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. Heralding the end of one era and the commencement of a new one, Reagan famously proclaimed, Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem, further adding that: From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? Buddhists, who comprised South Vietnams majority, claimed Diem, a Catholic, favored citizens of his religion in distributing aid. Why the Battle for Hamburger Hill Was So Controversial. Ho Chi Minh led a communist government in the north (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) with its capital at Hanoi, and a new Republic of South Vietnam was established under President Ngo Dinh Diem, with its capital at Saigon. By early 1980, contributions started to arrive. 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. 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. 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. (Some in the North Vietnamese government thought the course of war in the south was unwise, but they were overruled.) 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. By June they had stalled the invasion, with the help of American airpower. It echoed the theme that regardless of how anyone felt about the war itself, everyone cared about honoring the men and women who had served and those who had ultimately lost their lives. 1. He was an excellent partner and fundraiser. Mathias knew the legislative process. 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 families of service members who were missing in action originally wanted their names listed separately. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history until the Afghanistan War (20012021). How were Vietnam veterans treated when they returned from the war? The earliest of these battles was the controversy over Lins design. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. 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. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. What is dark tourism and why is it so popular? and was so hurt by the controversy . Why was the memorial so controversial? Ms Lin arrived at a design solution to note those that were MIA with a symbol()that could be altered if the service member was found. The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. 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. Because Warner was from Virginia and Mathias from Maryland, the two had worked together on many regional issues. How should we remember a war that we "lost"? 1. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. No government funds would be necessary. Why Were Vietnam War Vets Treated Poorly When They . With the winning design in hand, Spreiregen had less than 24 hours to craft an explanation of the decisionand the designthat would be suitable for presentation to VVMF. 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. The Veterans Administration hospital system was underfunded and ill-equipped to help Vietnam veterans deal with either their physical ailments or the psychological challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder. . 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. 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. After meeting with the VVMF officers and advisors, Warner volunteered to help the organization raise the seed money needed to launch the fund raising campaign. 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. 18. A Controversial War Gets a Controversial Memorial - ThoughtCo 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. As time progressed it caused more and more controversy in the United States. Sturken, 322; Anne Swartz, American Art After September 11: A Consideration of the Twin Towers, Symploke 14, nos. In previous war, progress and setbacks could be shown on maps; large enemy units could be engaged and destroyed. Crowd at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1982. Instead, the memorial became a dividing line between factions both real and imagined. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. 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. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. The selected design then had to go through Federal agency approval and development into finished plans. This 21-Year-Old College Student Designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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