why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial?

Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. However, polls consistently showed the majority of Americans supported the 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. As conservatives sought to consolidate their gains following Reagans election, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial controversy presented an opportunity for conservatives to harness both the affective power of the veterans fury and the resulting public outcry on their behalf. . One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. 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 the Vietnam memorial so controversial? Everything has to be thought out and in place before the launch button is pressed.. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. Watt followed on March 11, 1982, by granting permission for the construction permits. For the millions of people who visit each year, Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall sends a chilling message about war, heroism, and sacrifice. 16. Although publicly the war in the south was described as a civil war within South Vietnam, it was guided, equipped and reinforced by the communist leadership in Hanoi. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. It was the Senators gut feeling that we needed to do this., This was serious business, Mathias said. The wars length and the growing number of casualties were fueling tensions. Washington, D.C. As memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. Ho Chi Minh led a communist government in the north (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) with its capital at Hanoi, and a new Republic of South Vietnam was established under President Ngo Dinh Diem, with its capital at Saigon. On August 2, two North Vietnamese torpedo boats in broad daylight engaged USS Maddox, which was gathering communications intelligence in the Gulf of Tonkin. One film that came out early that year,The Deer Hunter,explored the effects of war on three friends, their families and a tight-knit community. 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. 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 Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was dedicated in 1982. The love and acceptance that the American people gave to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have continued unabated for over 25 years. When I was attending law school, Vietnam veterans were an anomaly among the young single professional set of Washington, so it was something you didnt mention. remembered Doubek. Each contestant sealed his or her name in an envelope and taped it to the back of the submission. Warner, who had served as Secretary of the Navy during the war, was himself a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. North Vietnam was a prodigy of both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Red China. Bob was the detail person and a good writer. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The Three Soldiers. Ike may not have seen the message, but at any rate he was focused on establishing NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) as a wall against additional communist advances in Europe and was intent on securing Frances participation in NATO. When the 18-year-old Scruggs volunteered to enlist in the Army in 1968, debate surrounding Vietnam was escalating. On April 30, their tanks entered Saigon. William Jayne, who had been wounded in Vietnam, volunteered to head up public relations activities. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. Unlike previous wars, where only still images or short movie newsreels were available for conveying images, this was Americas first television war. With the seed money from several defense industry donors, especially Grumman Aerospace, VVMF launched its first large-scale direct mail campaign to reach out to the public. When VVMF announced the selection of Lins design, the initial public reaction was generally positive. I heard that those present agreed to double their contributions after Taylor completed her remarks, Scruggs said. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. As time progressed it caused more and more controversy in the United States. Social critics and commentators quickly picked up and elaborated on Carharts characterization of the memorial. That changed in August 1964. Soldiers wounded, another 72 . Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. 1. The Gold Star Mothers is a group of mothers whose sons or daughters have died serving their country. It would help veterans heal. 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. 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 veterans were asking me, 'What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?'" Lin recalls. 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. 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. To make his dream a reality, he planned to get support from people as diverse as former anti-war presidential candidate George McGovern and Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded U.S. forces in Vietnam. 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. Maya Lins original competition submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Carhart equated artists and their defenders with individuals who engaged in acts of aggression against returned soldiers, and who were thus correlated with the entirety of the anti-war movement. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. 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. At that time, they just ignored you and wished you would go away. It was one of the most resounding defeats in all of military historyuntil it became a victory. The French suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, leading to negotiations that ended with the Geneva Agreements, July 21, 1954. Remembering Vietnam: The Story Behind 'The Wall' 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. These mass-media fictions enabled the very real neglect of veterans by the institutions tasked with tending to their needs. The wall is the centerpiece of the memorial and is made up of two black granite walls, each 246 feet in length and 10 feet in height. For this reason, in Vietnam today it is known as the American War. 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. By early 1980, contributions started to arrive. 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. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? Marinesnear Van Truong, from the VC point of view. For years, American society as a whole, regardless of political affiliation, had studiously ignored Vietnam veterans, their presence a painful reminder of the wars moral ambiguity. Their motto is: Honor the dead by serving the living. Volunteering to assist VVMF was an ideal opportunity for Cupp to do just that. 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. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. 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. 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. Paul Haagas spouse, Heather Sturt Haaga, soon came forward to lend her experience in fund raising. Before he spoke, however, all eyes had turned toward the kitchen door, from which has emerged his then-wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor. Consequently, by the time of the memorials design and construction, veterans had built up a significant amount of moral outrage and found their outlet in the controversy over the memorial. Mathias also knew the country was ready, Healy recalled. Lin knew it was critical to maintain the simplicity of the design throughout the design development and construction process. Lin moved to Washington and immediately became part of an internal struggle for control of the design. Lin and VVMF eventually selectedthe Cooper-Lecky Partnership as the architect-of-record, with Lin as the projects design consultant. The whole week was extremely emotional, Becky Scruggs remembered. And if they were bitter, who could blame them? North and South Vietnam were combined into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. On one side were the proponents of Lins memorials, defined in the media and the public imagination as Wolfes elitist art mullahs, draft dodgers, the future New Leftists, and, of course, followers of Jane Fonda (infamously dubbed Hanoi Jane after a trip to North Vietnam, during which she made statements condemning the U.S. military). The vision of VVMF is to ensure a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored and receive the recognition they justly deserve. (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.) 9. Mai also remembers being annoyed when her playtime was interrupted by the air-raid sirens. Each submittal had to be hung at eye level for review by the jury. Michael Clark, Remembering Vietnam, Cultural Critique 3 (Spring 1986): 50. Why was the Vietnam Memorial so controversial? - Yoforia.com VVMF met the prospective jurors and scrutinized their credentials. 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. That afternoon, the winning design was selected, said Spreiregen. The fact that such nongovernmental entities as the New York Times, CNN, and the Max Protetch Gallery took it upon themselves to solicit designs for both the new World Trade Center buildings and for suitable memorials to the attacks indicates the extent to which the American public writ large was attuned to the sites future. One day in October 1969, fifteen members of the Americal Division wore black armbands while they were on patrol, the symbol antiwar protestors wore in the states.