They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. Everyone wanted to join the effort. Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs, the individual to first pitch the idea of a memorial, used $2,800 of his own money to begin the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979, according to History. Civilian loss of life was also very heavy, with the lowest estimates around 415,000. Mathias had grown increasingly concerned about how veterans had been treated on their return. It would have power for individual veterans, but collectively, they would have even greater power to show the enormity of the sacrifices that were made.. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. 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. Sturken, 125. 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. Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to. Every 15 minutes, there was a pause for prayer. 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 jury evaluation took place over five days, from April 27 through May 1, 1981. 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. 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. 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. 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. Each juror was required to read Fields of Fire, A Rumor of War, and other current literature about the Vietnam War. But the fact that the language deployed to critique Arads and Walkers design so closely echoed the criticism launched against Lin in the early 1980s signifies that the debates of that era remain unresolved. It was also a hard-earned victory, leaving more than 300 U.S. By the end of 1967, there were 540,000 American troops in Vietnam, and the military draft was set to call up 302,000 young men in the coming year, an increase of 72,000 over 1967. A Controversial War Gets a Controversial Memorial - ThoughtCo They treated the moms the same as they treated the vets. 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. 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. South 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. 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. 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. The first fundraising letter was signed by Bob Hope. Nonsense. It seemed unfair and inappropriate that there should be no recognition.. All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.12. Sturken, 321. They were unwrapped, number coded, photographed for the record, and prepared for display. . That bothered him. Despite the stated wishes of the VVMF, Lins design proved instantaneously divisive. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. The controversy overshadowed the mission and what we were doing, until the Salute brought it all together. On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. Popular dark tourism attractions include Auschwitz, Chernobyl and Ground Zero. New York Close Up artist Dan Herschlein, and professor, Chad Laird, discuss the intersection of contemporary art, film and horror. 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. They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. 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. I had my ear to the ground, Mathias recalled. Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. The memorial was built to honor that spirit and the sacrifice of so many who gave everything they had to give. If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. Adding to Americans disillusionment was the race issue. Her only son Robert, an Army draftee, was killed by a land mine on his 21st birthday, June 6, 1968. They did not like the idea that it was below ground level. When the time came, however, Diem resisted the elections; the more populous north would certainly win. Soldiers wounded, another 72 . ever and endured a raging national controversy over the avant-garde . Scruggs . 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. 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. Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. 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. 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. Ms Lin arrived at a design solution to note those that were MIA with a symbol()that could be altered if the service member was found. 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. Scruggs took a bold step in contacting Virginia Senator John Warner. Additionally, the emergence of Park51the proposed Muslim community and cultural center to be located a few blocks from the former World Trade Center siteas a major point of public interest and debate, which peaked during the 2010 congressional elections, confirms the continued political potency and cultural power of memorials as embodiments of representational practice. Oooo, not any more, not any more. After 25 years, the way in which visitors have embraced and cherished this work has been a great gift to me, she wrote in the program for the 25th anniversary ceremony. Better armed than ever before, thanks to increased aid from the Soviet Union, they employed tanks for the first time. That same month, Kennedy himself was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. American drawdown continued, with only 43,000 personnel left in-country by mid-August. 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. He organized the advisors and volunteers into task groups: public relations, financial management, fund raising, legislation, site selection, and design/construction. But instead of enthusiasm, he received skepticism. To achieve this effect she chose polished black granite for the walls. 14. When Scruggs went to see the movie in early 1979, it wasnt the graphic war scenes that haunted him. The peasants resented being forced from their ancestral lands, and consolidating them gave the VC better targets. 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. End-to-end, the total number of submissions would have stretched one and one third linear miles. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. Most, like the Lincoln Memorial, were competitions between select designers. Scruggs and Doubek began having regular meetings with John P. Wheeler, a graduate of West Point and Harvard Business School. 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. That would have made any negotiation with Ho politically ticklish. 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. Ironically, the leadership of North Vietnam came to a similar conclusion: they had to inflict enough casualties on Americans to end support for the war on the U.S. homefront and force a withdrawal before the U.S. could build up sufficient numbers of men and material to defeat them. Holding a competition is like launching a rocket. The greatest challenge VVMF faced, said Doubek, was to put together a functioning organization with people who didnt know one another, people who were very young and didnt have a lot of experience. 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. This 21-Year-Old College Student Designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial The ceasefire allowed Nixon to declare peace with honor, but no provisions existed for enforcing the terms of the accords. Lin knew it was critical to maintain the simplicity of the design throughout the design development and construction process. Four of the eight were themselves veterans of previous wars. The domino fell but did not take down any of those around it. Based on a program the British had employed successfully against insurgents in Malaya, it didnt work in Vietnam. 2. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemys intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. 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. All of them realized how critical it was that a memorial be apolitical. When they returned home from serving their country, there was no national show of gratitude. Over the next few years, as the war came to a close and more and more troops returned home, the media began to paint a picture of the stereotypical Vietnam veteran: drug addicted, bitter, discontented, and unable to adjust to life back home. The program, which had been poorly managed, was abandoned after about two years, following the coup that deposed Diem. 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. Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. And Congress had declared a Vietnam Veterans Week for that April to honor those who had returned home. 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. About Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He had been a war correspondent during World War II and had reported from Vietnam during Americas early involvement. [3] It was the first representation of an African American on the National Mall. 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. 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. Not only was Harts statue included at the memorial site, but a flagpole was added as well. 9. These meanings serve as unifying forces, reinforcing the idea of a shared national identity and healing rifts in the communal experience of nationhood. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. The first phase encompassed the detail planning and preparations for holding the competition, said Spreiregen. The senior staffers were against it. With such an overwhelming response to the competition, logistics became an issue. To make matters worse, Diem responded by sending troops to raid pagodas. For the first time, MACV worked with South Vietnams government to create annual plans. The VVMF group liked them all and approved of them with trust and enthusiasm, even selecting three sculptors, making a total of eight jurors. 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. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Facts, Designer, & Controversy I think I even spilled my coffee. But, her presence made a difference. History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Under those agreements, Cambodia and Laoswhich had been part of the French colonyreceived their independence.