In the Rose Garden of the White House, immediately following President Jimmy Carters signing of the bill, Scruggs explained to the press the vision of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF), the non-profit organization that collected and administered the funds for the memorial. We do not seek to make any statement about the correctness of the war, Scruggs said. Although publicly the war in the south was described as a civil war within South Vietnam, it was guided, equipped and reinforced by the communist leadership in Hanoi. After listening for a while, Brigadier General George Price, a retired veteran of Korea and Vietnam, stood in quiet rage and said, I am sick and tired of calling black a color of shame. General Price, one of Americas highest-ranking black officers lived with and advised the 1st Vietnamese Infantry Division. 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. More than 150,000 veterans, families, loved ones and friends made plans to attend. Having chosen Libeskinds overarching vision, titled Memory Foundations, in February 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (tasked with coordinating the redevelopment of lower Manhattan and administering the nearly $10 billion in federal funds devoted to supporting that effort) two months later announced the memorial design competition. On August 2, two North Vietnamese torpedo boats in broad daylight engaged USS Maddox, which was gathering communications intelligence in the Gulf of Tonkin. 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. 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 Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a tribute to the dead of the United States ' longest, most unpopular, and least successful war. Ibid. Mathias set up a meeting so he could learn more. Marinesnear Van Truong, from the VC point of view. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Reflecting Absence (planned design for memorial to victims of attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001). Why was the Vietnam Memorial so controversial? - Yoforia.com The VVMF group liked them all and approved of them with trust and enthusiasm, even selecting three sculptors, making a total of eight jurors. What they did need, however, was an acceptable location for the Memorial and enough support to push the idea through various governmental committees and agencies. Marita Sturken, The Aesthetics of Absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero, American Ethnologist 31, no. 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. With the jury selected, the next task was to announce and promote the competition. On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Among South Vietnams other allies, Australia had over 400 killed and 2,400 wounded; New Zealand, over 80 KIA; Republic of Korea, 4,400 KIA; and Thailand 350 killed. Civilian loss of life was also very heavy, with the lowest estimates around 415,000. 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. Direct mail was proving to be a highly effective fundraising tool. The Three Soldiers - Wikipedia Civilian deaths during that time period were estimated at 2 million, but the U.S. estimate of civilians killed in the north at 30,000. Vietnam veterans memorial controversy. Vietnam War Memorial From the beginning, people have left tributes at its base. The winning designwas the work of Maya Ying Lin of Athens, Ohio, a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. 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. They did not like its minimalist design. To created credibility for the fledgling effort, they formed the National Sponsoring Committee, which included then-first lady Rosalynn Carter, former President Gerald Ford, Bob Hope, future first lady Nancy Reagan, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, USA, Vietnam veteran author James Webb, and Adm. James J. Stockdale, USN. In 1993 the Vietnam Womens Memorial was unveiled a short distance from the wall. The body count policy fell into disfavor and was not employed in future American wars; in Vietnam it led officers to inflate enemy casualties. No government funds would be necessary. Ibid. As noted above, a number of sources warned U.S. leaders against becoming embroiled in Southeast Asia. The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. The hope is that the creation of the Memorial will begin a healing process, Doubek wrote. This message of personal responsibility, in contrast to governance by an elite group on behalf of individuals, became a hallmark of the Reagan administration. Lower Manhattan must not be transformed into a vast mausoleum, obviously, but neither must it be transformed into a theme park for advanced architectural taste.15, Such rhetoric spilled over from the initial debates surrounding the redevelopment of the site of the Twin Towers to those regarding the design for the memorial. 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. VVMF met the prospective jurors and scrutinized their credentials. The program, which had been poorly managed, was abandoned after about two years, following the coup that deposed Diem. Architectural drawings and a one-page written summary, 1980 or 1981. Every major engagement between U.S. forces and VC or NVA was an American victory, and the casualty (body count) ratio always showed significantly larger casualties for the communist forces than for the Americans. As Scruggs analyzed the concept of collective psychological states, he realized that, just as veterans needed psychological healing, so too did the nation. Many who visit leave behind items in memoriam to those that have served. 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. It just resonated, he explained. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. Initially the (Senators) staff was split, recalled Monica Healy, a long-time Mathias aide, on whether Mathias should take the lead and support the efforts to build the Memorial. The number of parties who claimed direct investmentwhether emotional, psychological, or financialin the site and its future form and use only made the issue more complex and difficult to resolve. Cambodia Scruggs took a bold step in contacting Virginia Senator John Warner. 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 names of the eight women who died in Vietnam are included on the list of over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 3) It provoked antiwar sentiment. I just kept thinking to myself how quiet it was, and yet there was an immense feeling of community. To Heal a Nation, a book written by Jan Scruggs and Joel Swerdlow about the creation of the Memorial, provides a vivid sketch of the scene: I have heard your arguments, said General Price. Everyone wanted to join the effort. Early in his efforts Scruggs had called on Emogene Cupp, then the national president of the American Gold Star Mothers. The wars length and the growing number of casualties were fueling tensions. They felt it was a slap in the face to those who had served because it did not contain traditional symbols honoring service, courage, and sacrifice. Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? It was decided that VVMF would hold a design competition, open to any American citizen over 18 years of age. Over 500,000 wounded, Explore articles from the HistoryNet archives about Vietnam War. Names of all who died in the war or . Dana Joy Helwick explains how, and why, she uses contemporary artists as role models in her classroom. Others questioned the intent of the Memorial. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. Although Americas war in Vietnam failed to salvage the Republic of South Vietnam, it bought time in which neighboring countries improved their economies and defensive capabilities, and it may have discouraged greater communist activism in places like the Philippines. The photo of the South Vietnamese police chief, for example, cannot by itself explain he had just seen the dead body of a close friend minutes before; even Eddie Adams, the photojournalist who snapped the photo felt it unfairly maligned Lt. Col. Loan. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. Lin and VVMF eventually selectedthe Cooper-Lecky Partnership as the architect-of-record, with Lin as the projects design consultant. When I was attending law school, Vietnam veterans were an anomaly among the young single professional set of Washington, so it was something you didnt mention. remembered Doubek. Why was the Vietnam memorial so controversial? 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. 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 found that returning veterans were finding it hard to trust people. As Sturken notes in her essay, The Aesthetics of Absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero, the impetus to create a memorial at the site of the Twin Towers was almost instantaneousby the next day, even as the names and number of dead remained unknown, there was discussion of a memorial.13 Discussions about what to do with the site addressed two twin concerns: the redevelopment of what had been both a hub of commercial activity and an integral part of a broader residential neighborhoodlower Manhattanand the memorialization of the loss of lives that occurred at the site. When the time came, however, Diem resisted the elections; the more populous north would certainly win. 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. Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation. EIN: 52-1149668, Copyright 2023 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display, History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He also found that those veterans whose units experienced high casualty rates were experiencing higher divorce rates and a greater frequency of combat-related dreams. Lin moved to Washington and immediately became part of an internal struggle for control of the design. Veterans needed this, and so did the nation. In March 1979, inspired by the Hollywood film The Deer Hunter, Scruggs launched a personal crusade to raise funds for a memorial that would pay tribute to the soldiers who had lost their lives in the war. They were real guys. 19. 170,000220,000 military Sturken, 322; Anne Swartz, American Art After September 11: A Consideration of the Twin Towers, Symploke 14, nos. Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! 2) It applauded feminist efforts. Why were people angry about the Vietnam War memorial? 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. In addition to the accounts of its creation, sev- My background was relatively modest, he said. A memorial made perfect sense to him. 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. movements and weakening the morale of Americans fighting in Vietnam. Working with the construction manager, GilbaneBuilding Company, the design team had to locate the appropriate type of granite: a flawless, reflective, deep ebony stone. 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. Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. How did people react to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? They needed support, friendship and help.

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