Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. Ultimately, one of the greatest challenges was how to get that many names on the wall panels in such a short period of time. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? 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. 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. Woods remembered, I was like the kid at FAO Schwartz. 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 mission of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is to honor and preserve the legacy of service and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War. 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 . During the 1970s, it . But Lin doesn't like anybody "drawing mustaches" on her design and, with the support of many in the Art world, pressures the Commission of Fine Arts to scuttle the compromise and hatch a new one. Once Scruggs decided to build the memorial, the next step was to get some people behind him. After the dedication, Scruggs and Wheeler walked together along the upper side of the Memorial ground, near Constitution Avenue. 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. 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. I just kept thinking to myself how quiet it was, and yet there was an immense feeling of community. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - Definition, Cause & Significance - HISTORY Vietnam veteran Joseph Zengerle, then an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, volunteered the use of an aircraft hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. A s memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. 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. It was such a great cause, and they were bound and determined to make it happen.. Far from being a fait accompli, amassing the public will to support this new agenda took real work. And her design was nearly as controversial as the war it commemorated. As noted above, a number of sources warned U.S. leaders against becoming embroiled in Southeast Asia. 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. Maya Lins original competition submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Lin moved to Washington and immediately became part of an internal struggle for control of the design. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: from Controversy to Healing He had been a war correspondent during World War II and had reported from Vietnam during Americas early involvement. 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. 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. At that time, they just ignored you and wished you would go away. 13. The designs were received and processed in a large warehouse east of Washington. . And that message got through to me.. 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. Video: The timing and scale of the offensive caught ARVN, the U.S. and other SEATO troops by surprise, however. Following the Tet Offensive of 1968, the NVA had to assume the major combat role because the VC was decimated during the offensive. It ended with communist victory in April 1975. Westmoreland adopted a search-and-destroy policy to find and engage the enemy and use superior firepower to destroy him. Joe Biden's slogan that it was time "to end the forever war" in Afghanistan was called imbecilic by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs, the individual to first pitch the idea of a memorial, used $2,800 of his own money to begin the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979, according to History. North Vietnam was a prodigy of both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Red China. 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. However, polls consistently showed the majority of Americans supported the war. They were unwrapped, number coded, photographed for the record, and prepared for display. Ibid. But, say those opposed, the men represent the women, the men represent all soldiers . Spreiregen, a graduate of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, was a Fulbright Scholar who had served as the director of urban design programs at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) from 1962-66 and as the first director of architecture programs at the National Endowment for the Arts from 1966-70. Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. 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). Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. 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. Waiting meant they would never reach their dedication deadline of November 11, 1982. His political party, the Democrats, had been blamed for China falling to communism; withdrawing from Vietnam could hurt them in the 1964 elections. The war was extremely divisive in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. The National Park Service archives most of the nonperishable items left at The Wall. Most importantly, they needed to navigate the channels of government authorizations and approvals. But if the challenges seemed insurmountable, no one expressed any fears. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. As Scruggs analyzed the concept of collective psychological states, he realized that, just as veterans needed psychological healing, so too did the nation. Based on a program the British had employed successfully against insurgents in Malaya, it didnt work in Vietnam. By 1979, the country was beginning to have more positive feelings toward Vietnam veterans. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. News footage showed the fighting in Saigon and Hue. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). He organized the advisors and volunteers into task groups: public relations, financial management, fund raising, legislation, site selection, and design/construction. He would never forget those friends. Some felt that the money to build a memorial could be better spent delivering the many services veterans needed. The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. 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 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. The public wanted to have a hand in helping to build the Memorial and in honoring the warrior, not the war. Johnson wanted to focus on instituting Great Society programs at home, but Vietnam was a snake he did not dare let go of. Millionaire H. Ross Perot made a sizeable donation. 7. 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. Prior war memorials had depicted brave soldiers riding horses, shooting guns, or at some other moment of triumphfor example, the massive Marine Corps War Memorial with its enormous bronze figures raising the American flag over Iwo Jima. movements and weakening the morale of Americans fighting in Vietnam. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Washington DC 4. He could still picture the faces of his 12 buddies, but the passing years were making it harder and harder to remember their names. Antiwar protests continued across America and in many other countries, but on April 28, 1967, Gen. Westmoreland became the first battlefield commander ever to address a joint session of Congress in wartime, and Time magazine named him Man of the Year. It just resonated, he explained. Remembering Vietnam | National Archives The NVA suffered some 120,000 casualties. Vietnam: A History of America's Controversial War The debate over Minimalism, applied to Lins design, provided new terms through which to resurrect Americas internal debate over the validity of the Vietnam War. Bronze. 4 Facts About Vietnam Veterans Memorial Controversial History 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. Soldiers wounded, another 72 . I think I even spilled my coffee. But, her presence made a difference. Color meant nothing on the battlefields of Korea and Vietnam. 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. 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. Over 500,000 wounded, Explore articles from the HistoryNet archives about Vietnam War. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. Ibid. The Salute opened with a vigil Wednesday morning at the National Cathedral, where all of the nearly 58,000 names on The Wall were read by volunteers around the clock, day and night, through midnight Friday. 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. It was decided that VVMF would hold a design competition, open to any American citizen over 18 years of age. 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 February 7, 1965, the U.S. Air Force began bombing selected sites in North 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. 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. 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. In the end, the quarry in India was selected. Why was the memorial so controversial? American drawdown continued, with only 43,000 personnel left in-country by mid-August. Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? PDF Vietnam War Answer Key Pdf Full PDF - web1.willowwoodco.com When VVMF announced the selection of Lins design, the initial public reaction was generally positive. But the meeting gave Scruggs his first ally: former Air Force intelligence officer and attorney Robert Doubek, who thought a memorial was a good idea. We are all equal in combat. When Lin asked how many Smiths would be on The Wall, the team realized how important the chronological listing was to the design. 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. (Some in the North Vietnamese government thought the course of war in the south was unwise, but they were overruled.) The women soldiers the nurses suffered too. Dark tourism, also known as black tourism, thanatourism or grief tourism, is tourism that is associated with death or tragedy. By early 1982, VVMF asked Warner to bring together both sides for a closed-door session to hammer out the issues. 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). 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. 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. 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. By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean 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. Most, like the Lincoln Memorial, were competitions between select designers. Or, people would tell me, Well why did you let him go? Of course, what choice do you have?. Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Location, History & FAQs 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 U.S. suffered over 47,000 killed in action plus another 11,000 non-combat deaths; over 150,000 were wounded and 10,000 missing. The Three Soldiers. The Vietnam War: Facts & Info About the Most Controversial - HistoryNet 19. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26, 1982. Corruption and instability in South Vietnams government did not instill confidence in its people, or in the Americans working with it. 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. Unlike previous wars, where only still images or short movie newsreels were available for conveying images, this was Americas first television war. This grew into the operation known as Rolling Thunder that began on March 2, 1965, and continued to November 2, 1968. 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 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. 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. Black is not a color of shame. By years end, 23,000 American military personnel would be in South Vietnam. 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. Even white troops were beginning to protest. A memorial made perfect sense to him. He also wanted to find a way to help them heal and suggested that the country build a national memorial as a symbol that the country cared about them. But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? Here are four facts about the provocative memorial. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. monument, Washington, District of Columbia, United States. Adding to Americans disillusionment was the race issue. But how and where could all of the submissions be displayed? Early on in the effort to get the Memorial built, there were traces of controversy. The memorial should be conciliatory, transcending the tragedy of the war.3. With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation. 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. Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. An author, teacher, and lecturer, Spreiregen had written the authoritative book on design competitions. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. When Scruggs went to see the movie in early 1979, it wasnt the graphic war scenes that haunted him. Why reinforce the bourgeoisies pathetic illusions? 3. 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. 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. Maya Lin worked closely with Cooper-Lecky on all aesthetic aspects of the design. Doubek approached Scruggs after the meeting and suggested that he form a nonprofit corporation as a vehicle to build a memorial. 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. 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. Tensions between blacks and whites had been intensifying for years as African Americans sought to change centuries-old racial policies. Instead, Lin found John Benson, a master stonecutter, to hand cut the text at the apex the years of the earliest and latest casualties from the Department of Defense list and the brief prologue and epilogue adjacent to the dates. He, in turn, called the Buddhists VC sympathizers. Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Encyclopedia.com Each juror was required to read Fields of Fire, A Rumor of War, and other current literature about the Vietnam War. Every day, park rangers collect and tag the items, noting which wall panel each item was left beneath. By the end of the first afternoon, one of the jurors, Harry Weese, returned to our impromptu conference lounge and told me, Paul, there are two designs out there that could do it.. Letters came from moms, dads, grandparents, sons and daughters with heartfelt notes accompanied by checks and dollar bills. Lin became a design consultant to the architect of record. Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. Scruggs and Doubek began having regular meetings with John P. Wheeler, a graduate of West Point and Harvard Business School.

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