why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial? why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

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. They werent nice. After the dedication, Scruggs and Wheeler walked together along the upper side of the Memorial ground, near Constitution Avenue. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. North Vietnam was a prodigy of both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Red China. The wars length and the growing number of casualties were fueling tensions. By 1979, the country was beginning to have more positive feelings toward Vietnam veterans. Ibid. 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. Spreiregen recommended having a multi-disciplinary panel: two architects, two landscape architects, two sculptors, and one generalist with extensive knowledge about art, architecture, and design. By years end, 2,573 individuals and teams had registered almost 3,800 people in total. 19. (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.) Cupp had experienced firsthand the pains caused by the war. Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. In this sense, it was a complex ideological battle. The Tet Offensive shocked Americans at home, who thought the war was nearing victory. Many felt it should be composed primarily of veterans; others felt it should be made up only of professionals; some thought a mix of the two would be best. It's the most-visited memorial on the National Mall in Washington, attracting more than 5 million people each year - the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Overview Military conscription, commonly known as "the draft," is one of the most complex topics related to the Vietnam War. 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. The Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 19541975. Lin knew it was critical to maintain the simplicity of the design throughout the design development and construction process. Just, Why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial? The design competition also needed to be able to attract design competitors.. Ultimately, one of the greatest challenges was how to get that many names on the wall panels in such a short period of time. Most at the meeting told him they didnt want a memorial; they wanted more benefits and government support. 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. 4 Facts About Vietnam Veterans Memorial Controversial History 8. The hope is that the creation of the Memorial will begin a healing process, Doubek wrote. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. 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. 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. Daniel Libeskind. My background was relatively modest, he said. 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 Vietnam Wall Controversy - About - Overview - Lehigh University The ceasefire allowed Nixon to declare peace with honor, but no provisions existed for enforcing the terms of the accords. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. 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. The bronze sculpture, depicting three women caring for an injured soldier, recognized the work of the more than 10,000 women who served in Vietnam. The greatest challenge VVMF faced, said Doubek, was to put together a functioning organization with people who didnt know one another, people who were very young and didnt have a lot of experience. These meanings serve as unifying forces, reinforcing the idea of a shared national identity and healing rifts in the communal experience of nationhood. Why were people angry about the Vietnam War memorial? In 1972 a poll determined he was the most trusted man in America.. Why was the Vietnam Memorial so controversial? - Yoforia.com 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. 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. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. (Woods continues to serve on VVMFs Board of Directors to this day. A Controversial War Gets a Controversial Memorial - ThoughtCo Vietnam Veterans Memorial - National Park Service Vietnam Veterans Memorial (eBook) - Julia Hargrove 2002-03-01 The Vietnam conflict was one of the most controversial engagements in the history of the United States. It just resonated, he explained. 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. They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. The winning designwas the work of Maya Ying Lin of Athens, Ohio, a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. American involvement began to escalate under President John F. Kennedys administration (January 1961November 1963). Lin and VVMF eventually selectedthe Cooper-Lecky Partnership as the architect-of-record, with Lin as the projects design consultant. 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. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C. Like many veterans, Carhart read Lins design through the lens of his own experience: encountering an America that was at best indifferent and at worst outright hostile towards soldiers returning from Vietnam. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. After working alone for six months, Doubek was joined on the staff by Kathy Kielich, who served as the Office Manager throughout the project. All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.12. Ibid. The Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 1954-1975. The whole week was extremely emotional, Becky Scruggs remembered. On January 27, 1973, peace accords were signed between North Vietnam and the U.S. On April 27, 1979, Doubek incorporated the fledgling entity, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and Scruggs asked him to be an officer and director. But the veterans had real problems. Everything has to be thought out and in place before the launch button is pressed.. At 21 and still an undergraduate, Linconceived her design as creating a park within a park a quiet protected place unto itself, yet harmonious with the overall plan of Constitution Gardens. Afghanistan and the forever war myth | Philip Collins IAI TV In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. He made an impassioned plea for funding to his guests, members of the defense industry. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. 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. Please leave evidence I will report anything other than this 1 See answer Advertisement lheduardomarques Paul Haagas spouse, Heather Sturt Haaga, soon came forward to lend her experience in fund raising. Video: Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. Never before or since have journalists been given such complete access to cover a war. 3) It provoked antiwar sentiment. Some felt that the money to build a memorial could be better spent delivering the many services veterans needed. 20. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history until the Afghanistan War (20012021). Ruling out an invasion of North Vietnam assured that a purely military victory would not be possible, a fact that was at odds with many Americans expectations for the war. Mathias set up a meeting so he could learn more. We expect them to do the work of history writing, to draw single comprehensible narratives out of a Gorgon's nest of individual, often contradictory, experiences. 2) It applauded feminist efforts. It was like a Woodstock atmosphere in Washington for those who had served in Vietnam, recalled Scruggs. 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. Private Funding No government funds were used to build the memorial, only public land. Two nights later, Maddox and the destroyer USS Turner Joy were on patrol in the Gulf and reported they were under attack. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. The domino fell but did not take down any of those around it. Dana Joy Helwick explains how, and why, she uses contemporary artists as role models in her classroom. 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. Perhaps Lins centralitytwenty years after the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorialto the debate over Arads and Walkers design was inevitable, given her presence on the design competitions selection committee as well as her legacy as the definitive memorial builder of the late twentieth century. I am always incredibly moved and heartened, especially when a veteran tells me that The Wall has helped them in some wayit could not mean more to me. On April 30, their tanks entered Saigon. 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. Financial costs had risen to $30 billion a year. 12. Most, like the Lincoln Memorial, were competitions between select designers. The Civil Rights Movement had produced significant victories, but many blacks had come to describe Vietnam as a white mans war, a black mans fight. Between 1961 and 1966, black males accounted for about 13 percent of the U.S. population and less than 10 percent of military personnel but almost 20 percent of all combat-related deaths. In 2009 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the site. Critics of Lins design proposed that a second work be included on the memorial site, as a solution to the problem of the original memorial design: a figurative bronze statue by Frederick Hart of three soldiers in uniform, which had placed third in the initial competition. The flag-waving crowds even cheered., Over the four days there were also workshops, parties, events, and reunions. 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. Originally, Vietnam ended at the 17th parallel, but it gradually conquered all the area southward along the coastline of the South China Sea and west to Cambodia. 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. Our country needed something symbolic to help heal our wounds.. 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. Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Location, History & FAQs And that message got through to me.. The program, which had been poorly managed, was abandoned after about two years, following the coup that deposed Diem. The Vietnam Women's Memorial was established to honor the women who risked their lives to serve their country. On the other side were the veterans and their self-appointed spokesmen, politicians such as Webb and James Watt (Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan), and social conservatives such as Pat Buchanan. 170,000220,000 military 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. As VVMF focused on fundraising, Sens. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. The Draft - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Why was the Vietnam memorial so controversial? On August 2, two North Vietnamese torpedo boats in broad daylight engaged USS Maddox, which was gathering communications intelligence in the Gulf of Tonkin. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Its detractors perceived it as a monument to defeat, one that spoke more directly to a nations guilt than to the honor of the war dead and the veterans, describing it as the black gash of shame, the degrading ditch, and a wailing wall for draft dodgers and New Lefters of the future.4 Responding to its lack of narrative content, Senator James Webb called it nihilistic. Interestingly (given their opposing political positions), both the National Review and the New Republic equated the list of names with a police report on a traffic accident. Scruggs took two weeks off from his job at the Department of Labor to develop the idea further. 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. 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). It ended with communist victory in April 1975. I had my ear to the ground, Mathias recalled. The Gold Star Mothers is a group of mothers whose sons or daughters have died serving their country. 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. On February 7, 1965, the U.S. Air Force began bombing selected sites in North Vietnam. 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. 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. They were feeling alienated from the nations leaders, and they had low self-esteem. Ibid. In previous war, progress and setbacks could be shown on maps; large enemy units could be engaged and destroyed. Over 1 million wounded, 50,000 plus civilian Remembering Vietnam | National Archives In late spring 1969, American and South . 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. . Veterans frequently found themselves denying their time in Vietnam, never mentioning their service to new friends and acquaintances for fear of the reactions it might elicit. The NVA had to take over. Just before Christmas 1979, Warner hosted a fundraising breakfast in his Georgetown home. The Three Soldiers. 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. 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. On the other hand, Congress had never declared war and so the president was limited in what he could do in Southeast Asia. The VC was effectively finished; it would not field more than 25,00040,000 troops at any time for the remainder of the war. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. Were all the result of our upbringing. He also said there would be a pause in the air attacks on North Vietnam as the first step to de-escalate and promised America would substantially reduce the present level of hostilities.. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. The Memorials walls point to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, thus bringing the Memorial into the historical context of our country. In 1973 a third Vietnam war begana continuation, actuallybetween North and South Vietnam but without significant U.S. involvement. Similarly, casualty totals among the VC and NVA and the number of dead and wounded civilians in North Vietnam cannot be determined exactly. A Space of Loss: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial - JSTOR Daniel Abramson, Maya Lin and the 1960s: Monuments, Time Lines, and Minimalism, Critical Inquiry 22, no. 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. We had to constantly find the most effective next step to take and be sure not to get waylaid by tangents. The group started to hold regular planning meetings. Instead, the memorial became a dividing line between factions both real and imagined. 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 memorial was built to honor that spirit and the sacrifice of so many who gave everything they had to give.