The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also referred to as The Wall, is a memorial dedicated to the memory of the men and women who lost their lives during the Vietnam War. ARVN divisions in the north were surrounded and routed. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to the United States. 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. The Vietnam Memorial, located in Washington D.C., is a sacred symbol to honor the countless brave men and women who sacrificed their lives during the Vietnam War. 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. The South Vietnamese Army was showing improvement, winning 37 of their last 45 major engagements. Lin and VVMF eventually selectedthe Cooper-Lecky Partnership as the architect-of-record, with Lin as the projects design consultant. To bring the design into reality would require an architect of record. Analyzes how the Scruggs added: Make this place look like an airstrike was called in, he instructed. The National Park Service has kept and preserved more than 100,000 offeringsSouth Vietnamese money, American medals and insignia, bits of uniforms, combat boots, a captured Viet Cong flag, and even a chopper style customized Harley motorcycle. People felt it was too different from traditional war monuments. Free Vietnam War Memorial Essays and Papers 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. The Vietnam Womens Memorial was established to honor the women who risked their lives to serve their country. The stage was now set for the battle under the new Union commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. 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. WebThe 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 WebWhy was the Vietnam Way Memorial so controversial? That would have made any negotiation with Ho politically ticklish. We had been friends for a long time, Mathias said. They were either ignored or shouted at and called vicious names. On April 27, 1979, Doubek incorporated the fledgling entity, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and Scruggs asked him to be an officer and director. By years end, 23,000 American military personnel would be in South Vietnam. And none of them discussed their own personal feelings or political views regarding the war. Like all stereotypes, this one was unfair. Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation.. I think it left a lasting impression on me, Lin wrote, the sense of the power of a name.. Some of the juror comments included: WebWhy was the Vietnam womens memorial so significant? Your donation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund will help expand our mission to honor, educate and heal. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Omissions? The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. It's also influenced later designs like the World Trade Center Memorial, which also features the names of the dead etched into black stone. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Vietnam Veterans In fact, he would spend a lifetime trying to honor their memory. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: from Controversy to The National Park Service archives most of the nonperishable items left at The Wall. It was designed by American architect Maya Lin. After three-and-a-half years of nonstop effort and work, with all that you have to do to accomplish what we did, it was beautiful. "The idea of millions of schoolchildren year after year going to the National Mall and standing at the Vietnam Memorial and thinking 'This is what it means to be an American soldier?' Both the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam (ARVN) and the VC used torture, to extract information or to cowl opposition. Nine years later, yet another sculpture was added showing three women caring for an injured soldier. 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. People began to leave personal items, offerings at the wall. In the fall of 1980, VVMF announced the national design competition open to any U.S. citizen, who was over 18 years old. Diem fell from favor with his American patrons, partly over disagreements in how to handle the war against the VC and partly because of his unpopular suppression of religious sects and anyone he feared threatened his regime. That disparity would decline before the war ended, but the racial tensions at home began to insert themselves into the military in Vietnam, damaging unit morale. And her design was WebWhy was the Vietnam War Memorial so controversial? Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. An air war was the most that could be done north of the 17th parallel, because the use of ground troops had been ruled out. The Memorial had several purposes, he explained. The World is a public radio program that crosses borders and time zones to bring home the stories that matter. 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. 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. The design competition also needed to be able to attract design competitors.. Vietnam veteran Joseph Zengerle, then an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, volunteered the use of an aircraft hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Since all submissions were anonymous, the eight-member jury made its selection based solely on the quality of the designs. By the time he returned home, three months after the explosion, the country was even further divided. The jury evaluation took place over five days, from April 27 through May 1, 1981. 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. His reasoning was that a complete mess would make it tough to stop construction. Gradually, the Vietnam Memorial became one of the most popular memorials in the Washington, D.C. area. Meanwhile, a few survivors have had their names erroneously chiseled into the wall. Throughout her freshman and sophomore years, she watched as stonecutters added to the honor roll by etching the names of those killed in the Vietnam War. That changed in August 1964. The Vietnam Womens Memorial was established to honor the women who risked their lives to serve their country. 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. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. . History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. The design Lin envisioned listed the names chronologically by date of casualty. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. Lin describes the Memorial thus: I went to see the site. Today, The Wall continues to be the most-visited memorial on the National Mall, attracting more than five million people each year. Some public officials voiced their displeasure, calling the wall a black gash of shame. Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! Agent Orange American troops had won every major battle they fought, and General Nguyen Van Thieu had come to power in South Vietnam in September; he would remain in office until 1975, bringing a new measure of stability to the government, though he could not end its endemic corruption. 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. People would leave the Memorial clutching handwritten phone numbers and promising to write letters. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. The women soldiers the nurses suffered too. Because he possessed great knowledge of history, he understood the extensive healing process required after war. Experience the evolution of the Vietnam Wall controversy by reading through a chronological list of documents divided into five rounds: Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs initiates a hard-fought battle to build a Vietnam War Memorial, finally convincing Congress to appropriate land for a memorial that would be built with public funds. Veterans groups decried the lack of patriotic or heroic symbols often seen on war memorials and There is no distinction between officers and enlisted men, between heroic medal winners and those who died before their colleagues got to know themthey are simply named, in order. The Memorials walls point to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, thus bringing the Memorial into the historical context of our country. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. Casualties for the Republic of South Vietnam will never be adequately resolved. It just resonated, he explained. WebThe 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 -- In April 1995, Vietnams communist government said 1.1 million combatants had died between 1954 and 1975, and another 600,000 wounded. Lin, the designer, admits the wall doesn't glorify the war, which many Americans considered unworthy of the sacrifice it required. Others questioned the intent of the Memorial. Her only son Robert, an Army draftee, was killed by a land mine on his 21st birthday, June 6, 1968. They really worked well together and were the driving force. Partially, this happened because the subject of the Vietnam War itself was sensitive and painful for the public. Its primary goal was to demoralize the North Vietnamese and diminish their manufacturing and transportation abilities. The emotional response from the public was overwhelming as veterans, friends, and families turned out to pay their respects to those who sacrificed their lives during the Vietnam War. (An American medic treated him during World War II, probably saving his life.) Mathias had grown increasingly concerned about how veterans had been treated on their return. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Vietnam Veterans Memorial (U.S. Movies were dealing more realistically with their issues. For this reason, in Vietnam today it is known as the American War. Everyone wanted to join the effort. During the Vietnam War, the U.S military engaged in an aggressive program of chemical warfare codenamed Operation Ranch Hand. VVMF met the prospective jurors and scrutinized their credentials. A flower is laid on the names of fallen troops on "The Wall" of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington on Nov. 12, 2018. 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. John F. Kennedy discusses Vietnam in 1963. For weeks, heated discussions took place around the topic of who should be part of the design jury. They were also keenly aware that the legislation made the Memorials design subject to the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), and the Secretary of the Interior. Vietnam is a very important war in the story of Americas history. 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. Some items include letters written to fallen soldiers, or notes explaining the significance of the item. 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. Why was Maya Lins Vietnam War Memorial initially controversial? https://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial, 6 Things You May Not Know About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 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. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. Rip it apart.. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | 3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300 | Arlington VA 22201 | 202.393.0090 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. I just kept thinking to myself how quiet it was, and yet there was an immense feeling of community. 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. For weeks, he obsessed about the idea of building a memorial. News footage showed the fighting in Saigon and Hue. The timing and scale of the offensive caught ARVN, the U.S. and other SEATO troops by surprise, however. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Who Are the Rival Generals in the Sudan Conflict? Im sure I looked like a deer in the headlights, I was so nervous, Scruggs recalled. WebWhen the men returned home from war, they were not greeted with pride but with uneasiness. American intelligence knew an attack was coming, though the Army had downplayed a New York Times report of large communist troop movements heading south. READ MORE: Why Were Vietnam War Vets Treated Poorly When They Returned? Jan came to our headquarters to see if we had any room to help them get started, Cupp remembered. 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. But others lambasted it as an insult. Yet soon after it was unveiled, employees of the U.S. National Park Service, which administers the National Mall, noticed that visitors had begun leaving an extraordinary variety of objects there. The selected design then had to go through Federal agency approval and development into finished plans. The winning designwas the work of Maya Ying Lin of Athens, Ohio, a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. Updates? I am tired of hearing it called such by you. William Jayne, who had been wounded in Vietnam, volunteered to head up public relations activities. Westmoreland adopted a search-and-destroy policy to find and engage the enemy and use superior firepower to destroy him. %%EOF Yet, this seemingly god-given shrine wears political feet of clay, and behind it lies a fierce controversy that re-opened the wounds of the war the memorial was designed to heal. He made an impassioned plea for funding to his guests, members of the defense industry. The veterans themselves began the project , not the government . Following the Tet Offensive of 1968, the NVA had to assume the major combat role because the VC was decimated during the offensive. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. What made it so controversial? We are all equal in combat. They responded quickly, recapturing lost ground and decimating an enemy who had finally come out to fight in the open. Communist losses were extremely heavy. When the 18-year-old Scruggs volunteered to enlist in the Army in 1968, debate surrounding Vietnam was escalating. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. 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. One section of wall points to the Washington Monument, the other towards the Lincoln Memorial. produced a lot anxiety on the part of people who were trying to recruit those kids to be in an all-volunteer military.". It would be a way to honor the veterans and to help themand the countryheal. Vietnam Veterans Memorial The memorial was completed in late October 1982 and dedicated in November 1982. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. One person even left behind a motorcycle. In 1972 a poll determined he was the most trusted man in America.. So then why do so many come to see it? 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. Controversy Like the war itself, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial seemed destined to be a site of controversy and division.
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