why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial

endstream endobj 916 0 obj <>/Metadata 76 0 R/PageLayout/OneColumn/Pages 909 0 R/StructTreeRoot 158 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 917 0 obj <>/Font<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Type/Page>> endobj 918 0 obj <>stream By the time he returned home, three months after the explosion, the country was even further divided. 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. I had my ear to the ground, Mathias recalled. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. Jan came to our headquarters to see if we had any room to help them get started, Cupp remembered. When Lin asked how many Smiths would be on The Wall, the team realized how important the chronological listing was to the design. Why was black granite chosen for the Vietnam Memorial? 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. WebWhen the men returned home from war, they were not greeted with pride but with uneasiness. If it sounds somber, it is. No one wanted the war to happen in the first place, so having a memorial was a constant reminder of the war no one wanted. CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see for himself what was happening. About 3 million people visit it each year, more than visit the Washington Monument. The original design proposal called for all of the names to be individually hand-chiseled in the stone, but it was soon realized the time and money it would take to do that were impractical. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The National Park Service archives most of the nonperishable items left at The Wall. Why was the Vietnam War so Controversial? The ceasefire allowed Nixon to declare peace with honor, but no provisions existed for enforcing the terms of the accords. Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. He had studied the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, a student of Sigmund Freud, who wrote of shared societal values. Why was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall so controversial? Most importantly, they needed to navigate the channels of government authorizations and approvals. We didnt have any space, but I liked their idea and told them I would volunteer to help with all that I could.. The added component of military security made the location even more attractive, since it would ensure no interference with the designs or the judging. What made it so controversial? Civilian loss of life was also very heavy, with the lowest estimates around 415,000. What symbolism did Maya Lin achieve by creating this memorial? 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. 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. On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. The domino fell but did not take down any of those around it. WebWhy was the Vietnam Way Memorial so controversial? 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. I am tired of hearing it called such by you. Maya Lin was practically a kid when her design was selected to become the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Every day, park rangers collect and tag the items, noting which wall panel each item was left beneath. On January 21, 1970, Jan Scruggs was having his morning cup of coffee, but he was far from his kitchen table at home. 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. Scruggs and Doubek began having regular meetings with John P. Wheeler, a graduate of West Point and Harvard Business School. An electrical storm was interfering with the ships radar and may have given the impression of approaching attack boats. The flag-waving crowds even cheered., Over the four days there were also workshops, parties, events, and reunions. hSMk0+:dYm($nXBD$[e~g{xh. Many people also blamed the soldier for the war, so I had a general idea that I wanted to describe a journeya journey that would make you experience death and where youd have to be an observer, where you could never really fully be with the dead. 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. The ARVN bent but did not break. 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. It just resonated, he explained. 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. It was designed by American architect Maya Lin. 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. The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. Never before or since have journalists been given such complete access to cover a war. Vietnam, however, was divided at the 17th parallel. It seemed unconscionable that heor anyone elseshould be allowed to forget. Please be respectful of others. The Power of a Name | City Journal Many pushed friends in wheelchairs. Woods remembered, I was like the kid at FAO Schwartz. The VVMF group liked them all and approved of them with trust and enthusiasm, even selecting three sculptors, making a total of eight jurors. Bob Hope and other celebrities lent a hand with fundraising, and by 1981 some 275,000 Americans, along with corporations, foundations, veterans groups, civic organizations and labor unions, had given $8.4 million to the project. Prominent Americans who had previously supported the idea of erecting a Vietnam memorial backed out of the project. They would include a big National Salute to Vietnam Veterans at Veterans Day. William Jayne, who had been wounded in Vietnam, volunteered to head up public relations activities. 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. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). After three-and-a-half years of nonstop effort and work, with all that you have to do to accomplish what we did, it was beautiful. When they returned home from serving their country, there was no national show of gratitude. 's blog. We had to build credibility among the design community, but also build credibility with the veterans, said Woods. Each submittal had to be hung at eye level for review by the jury. The guidelines stipulated that the memorial should contain the names of every American who died in Vietnam or remained missing in action, make no political statement about the war, be in harmony with its surroundings and be contemplative in character. Not only was Lin not a trained architect, she didnt even have a bachelors degree in architecture at the time. I was dumbfounded that we had succeeded at doing this. They really worked well together and were the driving force. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Your discussions, feedback and comments are welcome here as long as they are relevant and insightful. As Scruggs had always envisioned, the Memorial would feature all of the names of those who had died. The names of soldiers who were dead had a diamond symbol by their name and those missing in action had a plus symbol. Vietnam Many people were shocked that of the 1,421 designs submitted by number in a blind competition, the final design had turned out to be the idea of a 21-year-old undergraduate student named Maya Linan Asian-American woman. What are the three things being represented by the Vietnam womens memorial? By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. The priorities were to launch fund raising and achieve passage of the authorizing legislation. 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. The division was supposed to be temporary: elections were to be held in both sections in 1956 to determine the countrys future. Seven more such immolations occurred that year. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. At its beginning, the wall is only 8 inches tall, and the names etched upon the reflective black rock begin slowly, as American involvement began slowly with the addition of advisors to South Vietnam in the late 1950s. This grew into the operation known as Rolling Thunder that began on March 2, 1965, and continued to November 2, 1968. Bob was the detail person and a good writer. They werent nice. Some critics even resorted to racially insulting Lin, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Since then, that number has jumped by several hundred. This lends a sense of personal intimacy in a public space which helps create a sense of connection to the memorial. Initially, however, homefront support for the war effort grew, but by March Americans, perceiving no change in strategy that would bring the war to a conclusion, became increasingly disillusioned. Jan was a great spokesperson. From the very beginning I often wondered, if it had not been an anonymous entry 1026 but rather an entry by Maya Lin, would I have been selected? she later wrote. Lins minimal plan was in sharp contrast to the traditional format for a memorial, which usually included figurative heroic sculpture. Only a few, such as the St. Louis Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, had been the result of open competitions. 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 Such images pack tremendous emotional punch but often lack context. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. The first fundraising letter was signed by Bob Hope. Some saw it as an anti-war statement; others wondered why an Asian-American should be the designer. He has written that he was prepared for a 25-year war; he realized he did not have to achieve military victory; he only had to avoid losing. Early in his efforts Scruggs had called on Emogene Cupp, then the national president of the American Gold Star Mothers. Why was the Vietnam The senior staffers were against it. Yet, this seemingly god-given shrine wears political feet of clay, and behind it lies a fierce controversy that re-opened the wounds of the war the memorial was designed to heal. It became a sacred place of healing and reverence as she intended. They found that they were very real people who did many of the same things they did, recalled Spreiregen. WebWhen the men returned home from war, they were not greeted with pride but with uneasiness. Johnson wanted to focus on instituting Great Society programs at home, but Vietnam was a snake he did not dare let go of. Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. After watching the movie The Deer Hunter, Scruggs apparently stepped up his activism even further, using $2,800 of his own money to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979. As they forged a partnership with Mathias and his staff, VVMF also set out to establish other key relationships. There are over 58,000 names inscribed in the memorial, all representing either confirmed deaths or those who are still missing. The idea for a memorial seemed like a natural extension of his work and his growing desire to find a way to help veterans. . And I wanted to say, Theyre going to cry.". The design team and VVMF searched for a way for the names to be sandblasted rather than hand-carved. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. Similarly, casualty totals among the VC and NVA and the number of dead and wounded civilians in North Vietnam cannot be determined exactly. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. The following February a strategic hamlet program began; it forcibly relocated South Vietnamese peasants to fortified strategic hamlets. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Who Are the Rival Generals in the Sudan Conflict? Opines that the vietnam war memorial was constructed for a noble purpose and is an historic reminder of how many men were lost. Vietnam War Memorial Research Paper - 409 Words | 123 Help Me Although differences in the two bills required a Conference Committee to meet, on July 1, at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation providing two acres for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. 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. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. {W^|\5W8\5WnJp%X99!88AHp1F b @_bYR!uLrLf0``be2p9c_( X< %X )?\Fm j] Mathias had grown increasingly concerned about how veterans had been treated on their return. 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. Scruggs was raised in a rural Maryland town between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. His mother was a waitress; his father a milkman. WebThe Vietnam war memorial is significant and an historic reminder of how many men were lost and how the vietnam war was a dividing point in american history. Some critics even resorted to racially insulting Lin, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. What does the Vietnam Veterans Memorial look like? - 2023 hbbd``b`6m@[$6@? g "For me, the names were key to it and they were about the individuality of each person," says Michael Arad, designer of the World Trade Center Memorial. Their motto is: Honor the dead by serving the living. Volunteering to assist VVMF was an ideal opportunity for Cupp to do just that. (An American medic treated him during World War II, probably saving his life.) That changed in August 1964. Networks of information began to flow. More than 1,400 submissions for the project were judged anonymously by a panel of eight artists and designers. From the beginning, people have left tributes at its base. 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. Ultimately, one of the greatest challenges was how to get that many names on the wall panels in such a short period of time. All Rights Reserved. Others questioned the intent of the Memorial. Earlier, in March 1968, the Americal Division had been involved in what became known as the My Lai Massacre, in which over 100 men, women and children were killed. Their initial timeline was aggressive, with an ultimate goal of dedicating the Memorial on Veterans Day 1982just a little more than 36 months away. It Doesn't Take A Hero. Over 1 million wounded, 50,000 plus civilian It seemed unfair and inappropriate that there should be no recognition.. Range Report: How Good Is the Smith and Wesson M&P FPC 9mm Folding Carbine? WebIn this essay, the author. For weeks, he obsessed about the idea of building a memorial. It ended with communist victory in April 1975. 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. Kennedy saw American efforts in Southeast Asia almost as a crusade and believed increasing the military advisor program, coupled with political reform in South Vietnam, would strengthen the south and bring peace. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. But if the challenges seemed insurmountable, no one expressed any fears. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26, 1982. Were all the result of our upbringing. Lins wall design turned out to be more intelligent than many armchair critics had realized. 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 That same month, Kennedy himself was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. 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. Paul Haagas spouse, Heather Sturt Haaga, soon came forward to lend her experience in fund raising. Im sure I looked like a deer in the headlights, I was so nervous, Scruggs recalled. Vietnam is a very important war in the story of Americas history. Studio 360 host Kurt Andersen explores the stories of those objects and of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in a powerful audio portrait that is part of the American Icons series from Studio 360. They struck at least 30 provincial capitals and the major cities of Saigon and Hue. Scruggs and Doubek realized that Cupp could be instrumental in helping communicate the all-important personal, emotional side of the healing story. She greeted each visitor in a regal fashion, wearing a dressing gown, perfect makeup, and beautiful shoes that curled up at the toes. There were four phases to the design competition spanning almost one year: planning and preparation; the launch; the design phase; the design evaluation and selection; the press conference and public presentation. Buddhists, who comprised South Vietnams majority, claimed Diem, a Catholic, favored citizens of his religion in distributing aid. It claimed,In one day of ferocious fighting we had eliminated from the field of battle a total of 919 American troops, had knocked out 22 enemy vehicles and 13 helicopters, and had captured one M-14 rifle. Marine losses actually were 45 dead, 203 wounded, and a few vehicles damaged. Tensions between blacks and whites had been intensifying for years as African Americans sought to change centuries-old racial policies. Why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial? - vietnam American drawdown continued, with only 43,000 personnel left in-country by mid-August. Two nights later, Maddox and the destroyer USS Turner Joy were on patrol in the Gulf and reported they were under attack. All of them realized how critical it was that a memorial be apolitical. 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.. Check out six facts about this iconic testament to sacrifice and loss. In fact, he would spend a lifetime trying to honor their memory. All of these items are stored in a museum-quality facility in Landover, Maryland. American intelligence knew an attack was coming, though the Army had downplayed a New York Times report of large communist troop movements heading south. Some of the juror comments included: Some items include letters written to fallen soldiers, or notes explaining the significance of the item. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. No one wanted the war to happen in the first place, so having a memorial was a constant reminder of the war no one wanted . Timing is everything, and enough time had passed. 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. 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. On the other side, the same thing was occurring, with even more inflated numbersvastly more. 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. North and South Vietnam were combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. They were either ignored or shouted at and called vicious names. It will be a better memorial if its not entirely understood at first. WebART HISTORY Describe the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. They were unwrapped, number coded, photographed for the record, and prepared for display. Post-war, the French tried to re-establish control but faced organized opposition from the Viet Minh (short for Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi, or League for the Independence of Vietnam), led by Ho Chi Minh and Giap. Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! Confused times need simple forms., According to the description of the design concept: The jury chose a design which will stimulate thought rather than contain it.. Laos, South Vietnam: 850,000 America's Ultimate Shooting Sports Discounter, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: from Controversy to Healing, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window). . The task groups proved effective, as described by John Woods, who jointed as a key advisor. Arguments about a possible Vietnam Memorial in the late 1970s and early 1980s revealed serious social, political and cultural problems. 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. Jesse Greenspan is a Bay Area-based freelance journalist who writes about history and the environment. Many people commended Lins winning design, with a former ambassador to South A flower is laid on the names of fallen troops on "The Wall" of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington on Nov. 12, 2018. All comments are held for moderation and will appear after approval. Images of fighting, of dead and wounded soldiers, of POWs held in North Vietnam were beamed into Americas living rooms night after night, as was footage of hundreds, sometimes thousands of antiwar protestors marching through the streets. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. Her design only earned a B in her class at Yale, so Lin was shocked when competition officials came to her dormitory room in May 1981 and informed the 21-year-old that she had won the design and the $20,000 first prize. As a senior at Yale University, Lin entered a nationwide competition sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and her design was selected from the more than 1,400 submissions that were received. And her design was WebThe 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. WebWhy was the Vietnam Way Memorial so controversial? In accordance with the strict competition guidelines, anonymity of all designs was carefully observed. Like all stereotypes, this one was unfair. Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. 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. Why was the Vietnam War Memorial so controversial? Maya Lin was called as a witness to defend her design in front of Congress, and as a compromise measure an American flag and a more conventional bronze statue, The Three Soldiers (sometimes called The Three Servicemen) were added to the Memorial site. Contents1 What are three facts about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial?2 What is the [] It would end in disaster for both sides. In the end, the panel passed over every professional architect in favor of 21-year-old Yale University student Maya Lin, who had created her design for a class.

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