why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

Hi, Im Claire. If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. It's the most-visited memorial on the National Mall in Washington, attracting more than 5 million people each year - the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Unlike previous wars, where only still images or short movie newsreels were available for conveying images, this was Americas first television war. The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. 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. Ho Chi Minh had been educated in Paris. This grew into the operation known as Rolling Thunder that began on March 2, 1965, and continued to November 2, 1968. But the meeting gave Scruggs his first ally: former Air Force intelligence officer and attorney Robert Doubek, who thought a memorial was a good idea. Sturken, 321. 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 introduction of legislation, the VVMF leaders realized that it was time to transition from a volunteer committee and to open a staffed office. On November 11, 1984, the servicemen statue and a U.S. flag were formally added to the memorial, and the combined monument was placed under the control of the National Park Service. The memorial itself, was a . 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. 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). 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 . A tabula rasa upon which individuals could project their individual, personal experiences of the war was what the VVMF desired and, as historian Marita Sturken and others have observed, a tabula rasa was what they got. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. Every day, park rangers collect and tag the items, noting which wall panel each item was left beneath. 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. It would be a way to honor the veterans and to help themand the countryheal. An author, teacher, and lecturer, Spreiregen had written the authoritative book on design competitions. The Three Soldiers. This fear evolved into the Domino Theory; if one country fell to communist control, its neighbors would also soon fall like a row of dominos. Sturken, 322. 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. Bronze. 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. Many had worked together, some in Washington. His reasoning was that a complete mess would make it tough to stop construction. China conquered the northern part of modern Vietnam in 111 BC and retained control until 938 AD; it continued to exert some control over the Vietnamese until 1885. 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. Mathias and Warner continually stressed that their objective was to provide the country with a symbol for reconciliation. The Tet Offensive shocked Americans at home, who thought the war was nearing victory. The design team and VVMF searched for a way for the names to be sandblasted rather than hand-carved. They werent nice. Lin knew it was critical to maintain the simplicity of the design throughout the design development and construction process. 12 (2006): 95. 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. Color should mean nothing now., Sideys piece continued: At the end of five hours and much shouting, General Mike Davison, retired, who led the Cambodian incursion in 1970, proposed a compromise: add the figure of a soldier in front of the long granite walls that will bear the 57,709 names of those who died or are missing and the tribute to all who served. 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. That changed in August 1964. 1. It will be a better memorial if its not entirely understood at first. (Woods continues to serve on VVMFs Board of Directors to this day. On July 9, 1964, China had announced it would step in if the U.S. attacked North Vietnam, as China had done in the Korean War. Lin became a design consultant to the architect of record. Dark tourism, also known as black tourism, thanatourism or grief tourism, is tourism that is associated with death or tragedy. 3 (August 2004): 122. To Heal a Nation, a book written by Jan Scruggs and Joel Swerdlow about the creation of the Memorial, provides a vivid sketch of the scene: I have heard your arguments, said General Price. But several weeks after the announcement, a handful of people began to protest the design. They were real guys. Crowd at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1982. We do not seek to make any statement about the correctness of the war, Scruggs said. 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. Civilian deaths during that time period were estimated at 2 million, but the U.S. estimate of civilians killed in the north at 30,000. 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. 5/1981 - 3/1982. Each submittal had to be hung at eye level for review by the jury. By June they had stalled the invasion, with the help of American airpower. The act of dark tourism is somewhat controversial, with some viewing it as an act of respect and others as unethical practice. 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 names of the eight women who died in Vietnam are included on the list of over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 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. Two U.S. helicopter units arrived in Saigon in 1961. About Vietnam Veterans 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. Jan was a great spokesperson. The design competition also needed to be able to attract design competitors.. And Congress had declared a Vietnam Veterans Week for that April to honor those who had returned home. We didnt have any space, but I liked their idea and told them I would volunteer to help with all that I could.. They were the only father-son pair to die in Vietnam.) Mathias had grown increasingly concerned about how veterans had been treated on their return. 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. I remember The Washington Post had pages and pages of stories in the A section. Vietnam veterans were, at long last, receiving the recognition they deserved. North Vietnam The administration was caught by surprise, however, when Diem was murdered during the coup, which was led by General Duong Van Minh. "The veterans were asking me, 'What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?'" Lin recalls. On that January day, There was a big explosion, Scruggs recalled. Rip it apart.. 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. The NVA had to take over. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. Lins minimal plan was in sharp contrast to the traditional format for a memorial, which usually included figurative heroic sculpture. The Gold Star Mothers is a group of mothers whose sons or daughters have died serving their country. An electrical storm was interfering with the ships radar and may have given the impression of approaching attack boats. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the worlds largest publisher of history magazines. 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. How should we remember a war that we "lost"? The idea for a memorial seemed like a natural extension of his work and his growing desire to find a way to help veterans. 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. Frustrated, Nixon ordered the big bombersB-52sto strike Hanoi, beginning December 16 (Operation LINEBACKER). When VVMF announced the selection of Lins design, the initial public reaction was generally positive. Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. In August of 1981, VVMF selected a building company and architecture firm to develop the plans and build Lins design. . The jurors began by touring the site and then returned to Hangar #3 at Andrews to view each of the 1,421 designs individually. Most importantly, they needed to navigate the channels of government authorizations and approvals. 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. The truth was, veterans were no more likely to be addicted to drugs than those who did not serve. (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.) They are a treasure of design insight and included many prescient thoughts as to how the Memorial would likely be experienced, Spreiregen wrote of Clays notes. . It was a whirlwind of events, and the press coverage was unbelievable. 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. 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. 1. It just resonated, he explained. Watt followed on March 11, 1982, by granting permission for the construction permits. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. 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. In the Rose Garden of the White House, immediately following President Jimmy Carters signing of the bill, Scruggs explained to the press the vision of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF), the non-profit organization that collected and administered the funds for the memorial. On April 27, 1979, four years after the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) was incorporated as a non-profit organization to establish a memorial to honor the veterans of the Vietnam War. A s memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. Why was the Vietnam women's memorial so significant? I remind all of you of Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for justice for all Americans. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. 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. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? The National Park Service archives most of the nonperishable items left at The Wall. At the time of the memorials design, many veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange, a chemical weapon used by the U.S. military as an herbicide and defoliant, still suffered ongoing health problems. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. 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. The women soldiers the nurses suffered too. It would help veterans heal. . Swartz, 95. Rather, by honoring those who sacrificed, we hope to provide a symbol of national unity and reconciliation.1. Larry Century, a young inventor from Cleveland, Ohio,was selected to serve as a consultant to Binswanger Glass Company in Memphis, Tennessee, which was awarded the contract for inscribing the names. Few areas of the world have been as hotly contested as the India-Pakistan border. 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. 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. 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. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. It was also a hard-earned victory, leaving more than 300 U.S. Perhaps thats an appropriate design for those who would spit on us still. Ibid.