why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

Seven more such immolations occurred that year. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. The Vietnam Women's Memorial was established to honor the women who risked their lives to serve their country. It was a whirlwind of events, and the press coverage was unbelievable. Or, people would tell me, Well why did you let him go? Of course, what choice do you have?. Revisiting the terms of this conflict not only provides insight into how and why visual art came to be so politicized in the 1980s, but also sheds light on the debates of our present historical moment, which, in many ways, parallel the debates of that period regarding the social purpose of art. They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. 3 (August 2004): 122. Based on a program the British had employed successfully against insurgents in Malaya, it didnt work in Vietnam. Healing meant many things to many people. 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. 170,000220,000 military 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. He was an excellent partner and fundraiser. Mathias knew the legislative process. 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. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. 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. Scruggs took two weeks off from his job at the Department of Labor to develop the idea further. The military dog tags, flowers, war medals, photographs, and even favorite toys left behind aid the healing process. But if the challenges seemed insurmountable, no one expressed any fears. By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. . The memorial consists of three parts: the Three Servicemen Statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Timing is everything, and enough time had passed. 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. The priorities were to launch fund raising and achieve passage of the authorizing legislation. The controversial Vietnam War was long and drawn out, fought in a humid terrain alien to American soldiers. Vietnam has a long history of being ruled by foreign powers, and this led many Vietnamese to see the United States involvement in their country as neo-colonialism. For the first time, MACV worked with South Vietnams government to create annual plans. Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. 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. Remembering Vietnam | National Archives To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. . There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. 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). But can America truly mean that we should feel honored by that black pit?6. 4 Facts About Vietnam Veterans Memorial Controversial History 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. Hi, Im Claire. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. Together with Spreiregen, he composed a report based on these thoughtful comments. The program, which had been poorly managed, was abandoned after about two years, following the coup that deposed Diem. 3. One of the lingering legacies of the Vietnam War is the widespread belief in America that the media cost us the war in Vietnam. Images such as the burning monk; South Vietnamese Police Chief Lt. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Loan about to pull the trigger of a pistol pointed at the head of a bound VC prisoner; of a naked young girl running crying down a road after an American napalm strike that left her badly burnedthese images and others became seared into the minds of Americans on the homefront, and in those of civilians in allied nations such as Australia. 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. Vietnam: A History of America's Controversial War Ultimately, the Commission of Fine Arts, which had the final say in the matter, overruled Lins objections. Vietnam veterans memorial controversy. Vietnam War Memorial Some 80,000 Vietnamese from the south had moved to the north after the Geneva Agreements were signed. New York Close Up artist Dan Herschlein, and professor, Chad Laird, discuss the intersection of contemporary art, film and horror. It set the tone for the ensuing cultural debates pitting the people against the elites, as found in Tom Wolfes criticism of Lins memorial design. They did not like its minimalist design. VVMF met the prospective jurors and scrutinized their credentials. How were Vietnam veterans treated when they returned from the war? The Vietnam War Starts In 1954, following the defeat of the French colonialists at the hands of the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu, the last battle of the First Indochina War, the country of. Over several tense weeks, more debate followed, until the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) gave their approval for a statue and flag in concept, pending suitable placement of those elements. This message of personal responsibility, in contrast to governance by an elite group on behalf of individuals, became a hallmark of the Reagan administration. The hope is that the creation of the Memorial will begin a healing process, Doubek wrote. 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? 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 . But several weeks after the announcement, a handful of people began to protest the design. Most at the meeting told him they didnt want a memorial; they wanted more benefits and government support. One of Mathias early key suggestions was that the memorial should be on the Mall, especially because the anti-war demonstrations had taken place there. 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. As a first step, VVMF retained architect Paul Spreiregen to serve as the Professional Advisor for the competition. 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. Joe Biden's slogan that it was time "to end the forever war" in Afghanistan was called imbecilic by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. 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. 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. Waiting meant they would never reach their dedication deadline of November 11, 1982. Afghanistan and the forever war myth | Philip Collins IAI TV Both sides were fighting a war of attrition, so communist commanders sent Hanoi battle reports that often were pure fantasy. The Vietnam Wall Controversy - About - Overview - Lehigh University Ibid. While many veterans successfully reintegrated into their families and communities, tucking their experiences in combat away on a mental back shelf, others were unable to cope on their own. How did people react to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? In November, a coup deposed Diem, with the blessing of Kennedys administration, which had quietly assured South Vietnams military leaders it was not adverse to a change in leadership and military aid would continue. The love and acceptance that the American people gave to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have continued unabated for over 25 years. Four of the eight were themselves veterans of previous wars. Soldiers wounded, another 72 . The design team and VVMF searched for a way for the names to be sandblasted rather than hand-carved. However, that posed a problem of how tolocate an individual name. In previous war, progress and setbacks could be shown on maps; large enemy units could be engaged and destroyed. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. No American air strikes came to aid the overstretched South Vietnamese, despite Nixons earlier assurances to Thieu. By the March 31, 1981, deadline, 1,421 design entries were submitted for judging. The proposed Vietnam memorial was a . She greeted each visitor in a regal fashion, wearing a dressing gown, perfect makeup, and beautiful shoes that curled up at the toes. However, the media was not the only entity invested in the veterans compelling predicament. The first fundraising letter was signed by Bob Hope. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. In the early 20th century, Vietnamese nationalism began to rise, clashing with the French colonial rulers. She was regularly swept up and raced to the bomb shelter with her parents and siblings. Frederick Hart. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. They treated the moms the same as they treated the vets. Why were people angry about the Vietnam War 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. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. 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. The winning designwas the work of Maya Ying Lin of Athens, Ohio, a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. 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. 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. With the jury selected, the next task was to announce and promote the competition. Climbing Hamburger Hill 50 years after the Vietnam War's The Battle of Hamburger Hill was fought May 10-20, 1969, during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Marinesnear Van Truong, from the VC point of view. 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. CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see for himself what was happening. Here's how a controversial work of art healed America after Vietnam Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! 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. Top Essentials to Know About the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo About Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Following a march by thousands of veterans through the streets of Washington, D.C., to the National Mall site, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 13, 1982. 6. zThe Vietnam Wall Controversy, Round 3, October 1981January 1982, History on Trial, Lehigh University Digital Library, accessed April 21, 2011, https://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/r3/october/. 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 honored for their service. 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. I think I even spilled my coffee. But, her presence made a difference. Jan was a great spokesperson. 4. Every day, park rangers collect and tag the items, noting which wall panel each item was left beneath. The Vietnam War: Facts & Info About the Most Controversial - HistoryNet Others questioned the intent of the Memorial. Descriptions of the desired qualities for the memorial design included harmonious, contemplative and reflective, and again, conciliatory.2 The booklet concluded with the following passage: Finally, we wish to repeat that the memorial is not to be a political statement, and that its purpose is to honor the service and memory of the wars dead, its missing, and its veteransnot the war itself. 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. 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. Cambodia 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. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. 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. 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. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. When VVMF announced the selection of Lins design, the initial public reaction was generally positive. Far from being a fait accompli, amassing the public will to support this new agenda took real work. Spreiregen wrote, I saw this as a needed opportunity to honor the service and lives of the soldiers we had lost and do so by running a model competition., Arthur Mosley headed the site selection task group and was assisted by John Woods, a structural engineer, who had been permanently disabled in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. Then, on March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese attacked across the 17th parallel with 14 divisions and additional individual regiments. But instead of enthusiasm, he received skepticism. And none of them discussed their own personal feelings or political views regarding the war. 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. Two nights later, Maddox and the destroyer USS Turner Joy were on patrol in the Gulf and reported they were under attack. As soon as the design was chosen,the next step was to consider the all-important details of getting it built. President Johnson, watching the broadcast, said, If weve lost Walter Cronkite, weve lost the country. In May, Johnson announced he would not run for reelection. Swartz, 95. A cadre was drawn from those who went north; they were trained, equipped and sent back to the south to aid in organizing and guiding the insurgency. They came from all parts of the country and represented every state. Sturken, 320. Its primary goal was to demoralize the North Vietnamese and diminish their manufacturing and transportation abilities. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. The Three Servicemen Statue Vietnam Women's Memorial And Vietnam 12 (2006): 95. Traumatic memoriessuch as those of police officers brutally beating anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and members of the National Guard opening fire on students protesting the war at Kent State University in Ohiowere removed, like a tumor, from the body of the nation and assigned to another geographical location: Vietnam. 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. Under those agreements, Cambodia and Laoswhich had been part of the French colonyreceived their independence. He found that returning veterans were finding it hard to trust people. All of them realized how critical it was that a memorial be apolitical. 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. Charles Mac Mathias, a Navy veteran of World War II, had been opposed to the war in Vietnam, but he had always respected those who served in it. Memory Foundations (planned design for former site of World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, New York). Two U.S. helicopter units arrived in Saigon in 1961. Remembering Vietnam: The Story Behind 'The Wall' 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. With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. In July 1959, North Vietnams leaders passed an ordinance called for continued socialist revolution in the north and a simultaneous revolution in South Vietnam. On that January day, There was a big explosion, Scruggs recalled. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. 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.. Maya Lin worked closely with Cooper-Lecky on all aesthetic aspects of the design. Lins minimal plan was in sharp contrast to the traditional format for a memorial, which usually included figurative heroic sculpture. Black is not a color of shame. Usually it refers to the period when the United States and other members of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) joined the forces with the Republic of South Vietnam to contest communist forces, comprised of South Vietnamese guerrillas and regular-force units, generally known as Viet Cong (VC), and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). ever and endured a raging national controversy over the avant-garde . 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 Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 1954-1975. In 2009 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the site. They struck at least 30 provincial capitals and the major cities of Saigon and Hue. The first phase encompassed the detail planning and preparations for holding the competition, said Spreiregen. The following February a strategic hamlet program began; it forcibly relocated South Vietnamese peasants to fortified strategic hamlets. We had to build credibility among the design community, but also build credibility with the veterans, said Woods. We had been friends for a long time, Mathias said. South Korea: 50,000 Lin knew it was critical to maintain the simplicity of the design throughout the design development and construction process. On February 7, 1965, the U.S. Air Force began bombing selected sites in North Vietnam. It will be a better memorial if its not entirely understood at first. Mathias and Warner continually stressed that their objective was to provide the country with a symbol for reconciliation. 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. On November 8, 1979, VVMF held a press conference in which Mathias, Warner, and several others announced the introduction of legislation to grant two acres of land near the Lincoln Memorial for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Undoubtedly, news media played an important role in Americans saying, Enough. Indeed, Vo Nyugen Giap had always envisioned using media as one of his spear points for victory. Ho Chi Minh had been educated in Paris. Memorials are built to give context and, possibly, meaning to suffering that is otherwise incomprehensible. 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. The controversy overshadowed the mission and what we were doing, until the Salute brought it all together. The senior staffers were against it. The body count policy fell into disfavor and was not employed in future American wars; in Vietnam it led officers to inflate enemy casualties. 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. 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.