why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

[] Over the past two months, art mullahs of every description have begun a holy war against the addition of [Harts] statue.8. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Instead they found bitterness and discontent and they were often disliked by the public. 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. In this sense, it was a complex ideological battle. The war became the central rallying point of a burgeoning youth counterculture, and the coming years would see many such demonstrations, dividing generations and families.. On Christmas Eve, in Saigon, a VC set off an explosive at the American officers billet in the old Brink Hotel, killing two Americans and 51 South Vietnamese. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. 10. Holding a competition is like launching a rocket. It was decided that VVMF would hold a design competition, open to any American citizen over 18 years of age. In 1993 the Vietnam Womens Memorial was unveiled a short distance from the wall. They were feeling alienated from the nations leaders, and they had low self-esteem. She was regularly swept up and raced to the bomb shelter with her parents and siblings. He was an excellent partner and fundraiser. Mathias knew the legislative process. The two sections were not unlike North and South in the United States prior to the Civil War; their people did not fully trust each other. monument, Washington, District of Columbia, United States. Memory Foundations (planned design for former site of World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, New York). 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. 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. Some 80,000 Vietnamese from the south had moved to the north after the Geneva Agreements were signed. A few preliminary concepts were embraced. The act of dark tourism is somewhat controversial, with some viewing it as an act of respect and others as unethical practice. Out of the nearly fifteen hundred entries in the competition, the eight jurors of the selection committee unanimously chose Maya Lins design on May 6, 1981. 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. movements and weakening the morale of Americans fighting in Vietnam. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Washington DC Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation.. 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. Editors note: This essay was originally published on Art21.org in November 2011. On the other hand, Congress had never declared war and so the president was limited in what he could do in Southeast Asia. Jack was the visionary, the creative, big-picture guy. American involvement began to escalate under President John F. Kennedys administration (January 1961November 1963). And if they were bitter, who could blame them? 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. 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. The whole week was extremely emotional, Becky Scruggs remembered. Mathias and Warner continually stressed that their objective was to provide the country with a symbol for reconciliation. How were Vietnam veterans treated when they returned from the war? Ruling out an invasion of North Vietnam assured that a purely military victory would not be possible, a fact that was at odds with many Americans expectations for the war. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. Earlier, Wild Bill Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II forerunner of the CIA, had also advised that the U.S. had nothing to gain and much to lose by becoming involved in what was then French Indochina. PDF Vietnam War Answer Key Pdf Full PDF - web1.willowwoodco.com She greeted each visitor in a regal fashion, wearing a dressing gown, perfect makeup, and beautiful shoes that curled up at the toes. He cited 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. Cupp attended many of their meetings on Capitol Hill as they drummed up support. Though a congressional investigative committee the previous year had warned that America could find itself slipping into in a morass that would require more and more military participation in Vietnam, Johnson began a steady escalation of the war, hoping to bring it to a quick conclusion. 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. On January 21, 1970, Jan Scruggs was having his morning cup of coffee, but he was far from his kitchen table at home. 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. One example, cited in Grab Their Belts to Fight Them: The Viet Congs Big-Unit War Against the U.S., 19651966, by Warren Wilkins, is a description of the first major battle between the VC and American ForcesU.S. They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. 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. In 1972 a poll determined he was the most trusted man in America.. Each submittal had to be hung at eye level for review by the jury. 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. In July 1980, Congress passed a bill authorizing three acres on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to serve as the memorial site. Support for the war eroded further. 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. As a first step, VVMF retained architect Paul Spreiregen to serve as the Professional Advisor for the competition. Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. It will be a better memorial if its not entirely understood at first. By June 1977, Scruggs was attending graduate school at American University in Washington, D.C. and had embarked on a research study exploring the social and psychological consequences of Vietnam military duties. On the second day, the jury examined the designs together, walking the many aisles and stopping at each of the 232 designs that had been flagged by one or more of the jurors, pausing to discuss each design that had been noted. Michael Clark, Remembering Vietnam, Cultural Critique 3 (Spring 1986): 50. 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. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Far from being a fait accompli, amassing the public will to support this new agenda took real work. Everyone wanted to join the effort. 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. Mathias had grown increasingly concerned about how veterans had been treated on their return. 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. Never before or since have journalists been given such complete access to cover a war. The ARVN bent but did not break. I am tired of hearing it called such by you. Over 500,000 wounded, Explore articles from the HistoryNet archives about Vietnam War. Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. Wheeler recruited others to help, starting with a group of professional men, all Vietnam or Vietnam-era veterans: George Sandy Mayo, Arthur Mosley, John Morrison, Paul Haaga, Bill Marr, John Woods and certified public accountant Bob Frank, who agreed to become VVMFs treasurer. The winning designwas the work of Maya Ying Lin of Athens, Ohio, a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. Buddhists, who comprised South Vietnams majority, claimed Diem, a Catholic, favored citizens of his religion in distributing aid. But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? They stressed that all funds for the Memorial would be raised from private donations. With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. The bronze sculpture, depicting three women caring for an injured soldier, recognized the work of the more than 10,000 women who served in Vietnam. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Many pushed friends in wheelchairs. Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) advised that was not the caseAmerica had a strong military presence in the Pacific that would serve as a deterrent. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. 12. Doubek approached Scruggs after the meeting and suggested that he form a nonprofit corporation as a vehicle to build a memorial. His reasoning was that a complete mess would make it tough to stop construction. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. In April 1995, Vietnams communist government said 1.1 million combatants had died between 1954 and 1975, and another 600,000 wounded. 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. Frederick Hart. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - U.S. Department of Defense 400,000 1 million military Having chosen Libeskinds overarching vision, titled Memory Foundations, in February 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (tasked with coordinating the redevelopment of lower Manhattan and administering the nearly $10 billion in federal funds devoted to supporting that effort) two months later announced the memorial design competition. When Scruggs went to see the movie in early 1979, it wasnt the graphic war scenes that haunted him. On April 30, their tanks entered Saigon. In 1973 a third Vietnam war begana continuation, actuallybetween North and South Vietnam but without significant U.S. involvement. We didnt have any space, but I liked their idea and told them I would volunteer to help with all that I could.. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. 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. North and South Vietnam were combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. Such images pack tremendous emotional punch but often lack context. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. Dark tourism, also known as black tourism, thanatourism or grief tourism, is tourism that is associated with death or tragedy. The Vietnam War was a divisive and politically polemic war. As soon as ground was broken for The Wall in March 1982, planning for its dedication ceremonies began. On January 27, 1973, peace accords were signed between North Vietnam and the U.S. 17. 3 (August 2004): 122. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. On September 30, 1964, the first large-scale antiwar demonstration took place in America, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. In the end, the quarry in India was selected. The war was extremely divisive in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. How did people react to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. He also wanted to find a way to help them heal and suggested that the country build a national memorial as a symbol that the country cared about them. This lends a sense of personal intimacy in a public space which helps create a sense of connection to the memorial. 4 Facts About Vietnam Veterans Memorial Controversial History Most at the meeting told him they didnt want a memorial; they wanted more benefits and government support. The Vietnam Wall Controversy, Round 4, 1982, History on Trial, Lehigh University Digital Library, accessed April 21, 2011, https://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/r4/1982/. Four of the eight were themselves veterans of previous wars. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) . Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. Cupp had experienced firsthand the pains caused by the war. Only a few, such as the St. Louis Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, had been the result of open competitions. 2) It applauded feminist efforts. 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. Why was the memorial so controversial? 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. When Lin asked how many Smiths would be on The Wall, the team realized how important the chronological listing was to the design. 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? However, that posed a problem of how tolocate an individual name. 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. The Making of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - JSTOR Daily 5. News footage showed the fighting in Saigon and Hue. Their initial timeline was aggressive, with an ultimate goal of dedicating the Memorial on Veterans Day 1982just a little more than 36 months away. As soon as the design was chosen,the next step was to consider the all-important details of getting it built. The text size is less than half an inch, which is unusual for monument design, but was selected to make the memorial read more like a book. But if the challenges seemed insurmountable, no one expressed any fears. 1. The debate over Minimalism, applied to Lins design, provided new terms through which to resurrect Americas internal debate over the validity of the Vietnam War. Why the Battle for Hamburger Hill Was So Controversial. By endowing memorials with the ability to accomplish these tasks, we bestow them with an extraordinary amount of power and authority. Daniel Abramson, Maya Lin and the 1960s: Monuments, Time Lines, and Minimalism, Critical Inquiry 22, no. . 4. No government funds would be necessary. They were unwrapped, number coded, photographed for the record, and prepared for display. Why were people angry about the Vietnam War memorial? South Korea: 50,000 Its detractors perceived it as a monument to defeat, one that spoke more directly to a nations guilt than to the honor of the war dead and the veterans, describing it as the black gash of shame, the degrading ditch, and a wailing wall for draft dodgers and New Lefters of the future.4 Responding to its lack of narrative content, Senator James Webb called it nihilistic. Interestingly (given their opposing political positions), both the National Review and the New Republic equated the list of names with a police report on a traffic accident. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. 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. 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 (1955-75). The controversial Vietnam War was long and drawn out, fought in a humid terrain alien to American soldiers. In March 1979, inspired by the Hollywood film The Deer Hunter, Scruggs launched a personal crusade to raise funds for a memorial that would pay tribute to the soldiers who had lost their lives in the war. By Thursday morning, it was down to 39. Bob was the detail person and a good writer. Despite the fact that beyond certain superficial qualities, Lins memorial shared little in common with the work of classic Minimalist artists such as Richard Serra or Donald Judd, critics nonetheless conflated it with Serras equally controversial Tilted Arc, labeling it another example of an inscrutable Minimalist public artwork erected at taxpayers expense. 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. Movies were dealing more realistically with their issues. In response to the designs submitted to these various competitions (generated by famed architects, artists, and members of the general public alike), conflicting interpretations once again revolved around notions of elitism versus populismharkening back to the language of the controversy over Lins memorial.14 In a 2002 debate with architect Daniel Libeskind on the matter, New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier commented, There is something a little grotesque in the interpretation of Ground Zero as a lucky break for art. 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. 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. The selected design then had to go through Federal agency approval and development into finished plans. The construction process hits a snag when relentless and powerful critics, led by Tom Carhart, find an unsavory political message in the supposedly apolitical winning design -- ultimately forcing a compromise, the addition of a flag and a statue with three soldiers to the Wall. The photo was published worldwide under the title The Ultimate Protest, raising (or in some cases reinforcing) doubts about the government that the democratic United States was supporting. Over 1 million wounded, 50,000 plus civilian Some of the juror comments included: "The veterans were asking me, 'What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?'" Lin recalls. This began a series of destabilizing changes in government leadership. The choice of the lettering style Optima, designed by Hermann Zapf was a font Lin selected after considering a multitude of options.The font Optima seemed to fit that desire to match an almost printed quality with a hand-cut feel. 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 the reminder that the men who died in Vietnam all had faces and names, as well as friends and families who loved them dearly. We had to build credibility among the design community, but also build credibility with the veterans, said Woods. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. 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. Casualties for the Republic of South Vietnam will never be adequately resolved. There were so many people helping to get the legislation [passed], remembered Healy. During the 1970s, it . Another article in the same issue of the Post echoed Wolfes definition of the terms of the debate, commenting that: There is a discordance between the sophisticated wall and the unsophisticated statue. I was dumbfounded that we had succeeded at doing this. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - Definition, Cause & Significance - HISTORY On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. They really worked well together and were the driving force. 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. Lacking sufficient services to assist their recovery, some of these unassimilated veterans turned to alcohol and other drugs, their addictions only sending them further to the margins of society. Top Essentials to Know About the Vietnam War - ThoughtCo

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