why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

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. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. But instead of enthusiasm, he received skepticism. Because of this, Mathias appointed her to manage the details and to work with Scruggs, Doubek, and Wheeler on the legislation for the memorial. 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. Both sides were fighting a war of attrition, so communist commanders sent Hanoi battle reports that often were pure fantasy. When Scruggs went to see the movie in early 1979, it wasnt the graphic war scenes that haunted him. It was designed by American architect Maya Lin. to the memorial, as well as the rituals that take place there and what role the memorial may be playing in the construction of a his-tory of the Vietnam War.8 Beyond the academic discourse, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has also in-spired a considerable popular literature. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history until the Afghanistan War (20012021). All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.12. The jury included: architects Pietro Belluschi and Harry Weese; landscape architects Hideo Sasaki and Garrett Eckbo; sculptors Costantino Nivola, Richard Hunt, and James Rosati; and Grady Clay, a journalist and editor of Landscape Architecture magazine. The American Legion, VFW, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), AMVETS, and Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) made sure their members knew that veterans were going to be honored and welcomed that week on the National Mall. Like the war itself, this memorialization was highly controversial, but the site has become the most frequently visited memorial in Washington, D.C., drawing over 4 million visitors annually. In the fall of 1980, VVMF announced the national design competition open to any U.S. citizen, who was over 18 years old. Daniel Abramson, Maya Lin and the 1960s: Monuments, Time Lines, and Minimalism, Critical Inquiry 22, no. 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. By Thursday morning, it was down to 39. 19. Associated Press correspondent Malcolm Mal Browne photographed him sitting quietly in the lotus position as the flames consumed him. Sturken, 322; Anne Swartz, American Art After September 11: A Consideration of the Twin Towers, Symploke 14, nos. Social critics and commentators quickly picked up and elaborated on Carharts characterization of the memorial. The Ho Chi Minh had been educated in Paris. 11. 4. She is still remembered fondly by veterans for the moving Memorial she designed for them. Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. 7. 2. Because the U.S. failed to achieve a military victory and the Republic of South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnam, the Vietnam experience became known as the only war America ever lost. It remains a very controversial topic that continues to affect political and military decisions today. They treated the moms the same as they treated the vets. This began a series of destabilizing changes in government leadership. (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.) Holding a competition is like launching a rocket. The reputation of the jurors was important to attract the best designers and to minimize second guessing by the Federal approval bodies. 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. New York Close Up artist Dan Herschlein, and professor, Chad Laird, discuss the intersection of contemporary art, film and horror. Swartz, 95. 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. Because he possessed great knowledge of history, he understood the extensive healing process required after war. Casualties for the Republic of South Vietnam will never be adequately resolved. The following February a strategic hamlet program began; it forcibly relocated South Vietnamese peasants to fortified strategic hamlets. In the nine months since hed been in-country, Scruggs had already seen a lot of action and had been wounded in a battle near Xuan Loc. 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. Some observers attributed this factor to Maya Lins presence on the jurying panel, which also included victims families, political appointees, curators, and other artists.17 It was even announced at one point that Walkers and Arads design resembled a sketch that Lin had made for the sort of memorial that might be placed at the site.18 Like Lins design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Reflecting Absence was criticized for failing to incorporate any representations of human figures, its minimal design interpreted as a rejection of codes of heroism.19 In a practical reenactment of the negotiation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the addition of a representational statue of three firefighters hoisting a flag at Ground Zero was proposed. 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. 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. (Some in the North Vietnamese government thought the course of war in the south was unwise, but they were overruled.) ", 3: The Political Controversy, Some antiwar protestors blamed the men and women who served in Vietnam, taunting them and spitting on them when they came home. Mathias set up a meeting so he could learn more. Many had worked together, some in Washington. 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. They were the only father-son pair to die in Vietnam.) Similarly, casualty totals among the VC and NVA and the number of dead and wounded civilians in North Vietnam cannot be determined exactly. To make matters worse, Diem responded by sending troops to raid pagodas. Jan came to our headquarters to see if we had any room to help them get started, Cupp remembered. 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. "The veterans were asking me, 'What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?'" Lin recalls. On September 30, 1964, the first large-scale antiwar demonstration took place in America, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Although Americas war in Vietnam failed to salvage the Republic of South Vietnam, it bought time in which neighboring countries improved their economies and defensive capabilities, and it may have discouraged greater communist activism in places like the Philippines. This lends a sense of personal intimacy in a public space which helps create a sense of connection to the memorial. In July 1959, North Vietnams leaders passed an ordinance called for continued socialist revolution in the north and a simultaneous revolution in South Vietnam. 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. Marita Sturken, The Aesthetics of Absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero, American Ethnologist 31, no. 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. 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. Healing meant many things to many people. It was the most thoughtful and thorough discussion of design that I have ever heard, and I have heard many, he recalled. North Vietnam spent two years rebuilding its military; South Vietnam was hamstrung in its responses by a fear the U.S. Congress would cut off all aid if it took military action against communist buildup. Jack was the visionary, the creative, big-picture guy. The Three Soldiers (also known as The Three Servicemen) is a bronze statue by Frederick Hart. Ronald Reagans election in November 1980 ushered in the Reagan Revolution, and the first few years of Reagans presidency saw the largest tax cuts in American history. Photo by William Bill Lecky. 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 . It was also a hard-earned victory, leaving more than 300 U.S. It was World War II and her family lived in Nam Dinh, an industrial city and military target on the north coast of Vietnam. Vietnam veteran Joseph Zengerle, then an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, volunteered the use of an aircraft hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Veterans needed this, and so did the nation. Names of all who died in the war or . 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. However, the years that saw the memorials proposal, design, and construction1980 to 1982coincided with a momentous shift in the topography of American political culture: the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the ensuing negotiation of a new federal agenda. Soldiers wounded, another 72 . Memory Foundations (planned design for former site of World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, New York). In July 1980, Congress passed a bill authorizing three acres on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to serve as the memorial site. Within months after he recovered from his wounds and returned to his unit, the American public was learning the details of the events at My Lai. Sturken notes, "the memorial was seen as a monument to defeat, one that spoke more directly to a nation's guilt than to the honor of the war dead and the veterans." The disagreements over the design revealed anxiety about ownership of the war's representation. On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. He organized the advisors and volunteers into task groups: public relations, financial management, fund raising, legislation, site selection, and design/construction. Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. The following week, Kurt Anderson recapped the festivities for TIME magazine: Saturdays three-hour parade down Constitution Avenue, led by [Gen. William] Westmoreland, was the vets own show. Everyone wanted to join the effort. Scruggs, Wheeler, and Doubek then scouted the Mall sometimes by bicycle to identify the ideal spot: a stretch of parkland known as Constitution Gardens, located on the National Mall adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial. This alliance between the veterans and their conservative defenders was a new one, forged as a direct result of the cultural battle over the memorial site. 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. 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. 3 (August 2004): 122. From the beginning, people have left tributes at its base. Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation. To its own surprise, Hanoi found its forces advancing rapidly toward Saigon, realized victory was at hand, and renamed the operation the Ho Chi Minh Offensive. Because Warner was from Virginia and Mathias from Maryland, the two had worked together on many regional issues. It was the reminder that the men who died in Vietnam all had faces and names, as well as friends and families who loved them dearly. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. North 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. 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. Joe Biden's slogan that it was time "to end the forever war" in Afghanistan was called imbecilic by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. The VC was effectively finished; it would not field more than 25,00040,000 troops at any time for the remainder of the war. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 Johnson wanted to focus on instituting Great Society programs at home, but Vietnam was a snake he did not dare let go of. The priorities were to launch fund raising and achieve passage of the authorizing legislation. There were so many people helping to get the legislation [passed], remembered Healy. Similar, even larger, atrocities were conducted by VC and NVA unitssuch as an NVA attack on a Buddhist orphanage at An Hoa in September 1970 or the execution of 5,000 people at Hue during the Tet Offensivebut the concept of American soldiers killing civilians in cold blood was more than many Americans could bear. 4 (Summer 1996): 685. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. All of them realized how critical it was that a memorial be apolitical. An author, teacher, and lecturer, Spreiregen had written the authoritative book on design competitions. Mathias had grown increasingly concerned about how veterans had been treated on their return. With the jury selected, the next task was to announce and promote the competition. 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. North and South Vietnam were combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. In this sense, it was a complex ideological battle. Jan Scruggss and VVMF members desire for a memorial that would heal the social rifts wrought by the war was wishful thinking. Cupp attended many of their meetings on Capitol Hill as they drummed up support. An electrical storm was interfering with the ships radar and may have given the impression of approaching attack boats. ), For three solid months, Spreiregen, Mosley, Woods, and Doubek planned the competition. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 26, 1982. With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The battle was suddenly over.. The VVMF organizers soon learned that it required an Act of Congress to build a memorial on Federal land, and Scruggs first called one of the senators for his home state of Maryland. Dark tourism, also known as black tourism, thanatourism or grief tourism, is tourism that is associated with death or tragedy. This message of personal responsibility, in contrast to governance by an elite group on behalf of individuals, became a hallmark of the Reagan administration. ARVN divisions in the north were surrounded and routed. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. It was decided that VVMF would hold a design competition, open to any American citizen over 18 years of age. 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. Movies were dealing more realistically with their issues. The Vietnam War was a divisive and politically polemic war. 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. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. 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. Although the United States won the war in a numerical sense, having far less casualties than North Vietnam, the U.S. did not accomplish what they had set out to do. In accordance with the strict competition guidelines, anonymity of all designs was carefully observed. After working alone for six months, Doubek was joined on the staff by Kathy Kielich, who served as the Office Manager throughout the project. 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. In December Doubek became the Executive Director, working on a half-time basis for the first few months, and opened the VVMF office on January 2, 1980. First Inaugural Address (January 20, 1981), Ronald Wilson Reagan, Miller Center For Public Affairs, University of Virginia, accessed April 21, 2011, https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3407. Maya Lin, has gone on to become a respected architect and artist, with a studio in New York City. The memorial should be conciliatory, transcending the tragedy of the war.3. It was very hurtful, Cupp recalled. 5. North Vietnamese officers, after the war, said the only thing they feared was an American-led invasion of the north, but the U.S. was not going to risk starting World War III, and at the time that seemed to loom as a distinct possibility. Hidden in a hole in the ground, with no means of access for those Vietnam veterans who are condemned to spend the rest of their days in a wheelchair. However, polls consistently showed the majority of Americans supported the war. I ran over to see a truck on fire and a dozen of my friends dying. They had been unloading an ammunition truck when the explosion occurred. When the 18-year-old Scruggs volunteered to enlist in the Army in 1968, debate surrounding Vietnam was escalating. By early 1980, contributions started to arrive. Guerrilla warfare (asymmetrical warfare) does not permit such clear-cut data. By 1979, the country was beginning to have more positive feelings toward Vietnam veterans. Warner, at the time married to Elizabeth Taylor, had strong connections to both Hollywood and the corporate world. Yet, to say the media cost America victory in Vietnam is vastly oversimplifying a very complex situation. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. Each juror was required to read Fields of Fire, A Rumor of War, and other current literature about the Vietnam War. He also found that those veterans whose units experienced high casualty rates were experiencing higher divorce rates and a greater frequency of combat-related dreams. Under those agreements, Cambodia and Laoswhich had been part of the French colonyreceived their independence. At the time, well-managed open design competitions were common in Europe, but not in the United States. In the Shadow of the Washington Monument. 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. 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. Marinesnear Van Truong, from the VC point of view. Despite the stated wishes of the VVMF, Lins design proved instantaneously divisive. It would help veterans heal. CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see for himself what was happening. 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. 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. Most at the meeting told him they didnt want a memorial; they wanted more benefits and government support. It also offered a way to exorcise lingering bitterness and anxieties that the war had propagated. Please leave evidence I will report anything other than this 1 See answer Advertisement lheduardomarques 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. 5/1981 - 3/1982. 14. Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? Architectural drawings and a one-page written summary, 1980 or 1981. In 1993 the Vietnam Womens Memorial was unveiled a short distance from the wall. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. Two younger monks poured a mix of gasoline and jet fuel over him and, as the three had planned, set fire to him. . He had been a war correspondent during World War II and had reported from Vietnam during Americas early involvement. Mao Zedongs Communist Party had won the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and western governmentsparticularly that of the U.Sfeared communist expansion throughout Southeast Asia. For the first time, MACV worked with South Vietnams government to create annual plans. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. When the winning Vietnam Veterans Memorial design was dedicated on November 13, 1982, a storm of controversy followed. Far from being a fait accompli, amassing the public will to support this new agenda took real work. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The public wanted to have a hand in helping to build the Memorial and in honoring the warrior, not the war. As Scruggs had always envisioned, the Memorial would feature all of the names of those who had died. Many pushed friends in wheelchairs. 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. 3. Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. 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. The memorial itself, was a . Medals, toys, flowers, photographsanything and everything is left at The Wall as family and friends seek to remember their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. 1. If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. It ended with communist victory in April 1975. 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. The added component of military security made the location even more attractive, since it would ensure no interference with the designs or the judging. 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 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 memorial was built to honor that spirit and the sacrifice of so many who gave everything they had to give. 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. Black is not a color of shame. The insurgency was called the National Liberation Front (PLF); however, its soldiers and operatives became more commonly known by their opponents as the Viet Cong (VC), short for Vietnamese Communists. It was surreal.. Editors note: This essay was originally published on Art21.org in November 2011. The French suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, leading to negotiations that ended with the Geneva Agreements, July 21, 1954. 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.. American intelligence knew an attack was coming, though the Army had downplayed a New York Times report of large communist troop movements heading south. Why reinforce the bourgeoisies pathetic illusions? Hi, Im Claire. 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.

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