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. For Woods, 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. End-to-end, the total number of submissions would have stretched one and one third linear miles. Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. The French suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, leading to negotiations that ended with the Geneva Agreements, July 21, 1954. 14. At that time, they just ignored you and wished you would go away. By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. Mai also remembers being annoyed when her playtime was interrupted by the air-raid sirens. 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. They were also the most collegial people, who would deliberate intensely but never argue or posture, Spreiregen remembered. 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. It echoed the theme that regardless of how anyone felt about the war itself, everyone cared about honoring the men and women who had served and those who had ultimately lost their lives. This lends a sense of personal intimacy in a public space which helps create a sense of connection to the memorial. Warner, at the time married to Elizabeth Taylor, had strong connections to both Hollywood and the corporate world. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. The domino fell but did not take down any of those around it. Ultimately, the Commission of Fine Arts, which had the final say in the matter, overruled Lins objections. In 1972 a poll determined he was the most trusted man in America.. It consists of a black granite wall with the names of over 58,000 soldiers who were killed or went missing in action inscribed on it. 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. Some antiwar protestors blamed the men and women who served in Vietnam, taunting them and spitting on them when they came home. Throughout the judging process, one of the judges, Grady Clay, had taken meticulous notes of the jurys discussions. We had to constantly find the most effective next step to take and be sure not to get waylaid by tangents. The group started to hold regular planning meetings. Sturken, 322. On November 8, 1979, VVMF held a press conference in which Mathias, Warner, and several others announced the introduction of legislation to grant two acres of land near the Lincoln Memorial for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Low estimates calculate 110,000 combat KIA and a half-million wounded. American Artist discusses science fiction in the context of contemporary art and the concept of Colored Time.. Joe Biden's slogan that it was time "to end the forever war" in Afghanistan was called imbecilic by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Rip it apart.. 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. They really worked well together and were the driving force. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. With such an overwhelming response to the competition, logistics became an issue. The effects of U.S. involvement, the impact of an individual's participation, political decisions and the politics of decision-making are still felt. In an article in the Washington Post, writer Tom Wolfe defined the debate over the inclusion of Harts figurative memorial as a story of art experts and the Vietnam veteransand of how the veterans asked for a war memorial and wound up with an enormous pit they now refer to as a tribute to Jane Fonda. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. A s memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. His reasoning was that a complete mess would make it tough to stop construction. When Lin asked how many Smiths would be on The Wall, the team realized how important the chronological listing was to the design. The 15,000 in uniforms and civvies, walked among floats, bands and baton twirlers. Swartz, 95. Editors note: This essay was originally published on Art21.org in November 2011. Holding a competition is like launching a rocket. And none of them discussed their own personal feelings or political views regarding the war. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. Reflecting Absence (planned design for memorial to victims of attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001). On that January day, There was a big explosion, Scruggs recalled. During the 1970s, it . Jack was the visionary, the creative, big-picture guy. A flower is laid on the names of fallen troops on "The Wall" of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington on Nov. 12, 2018. . Corrections? On the other side, the same thing was occurring, with even more inflated numbersvastly more. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. When they returned home from serving their country, there was no national show of gratitude. It was such a great cause, and they were bound and determined to make it happen.. Dana Joy Helwick explains how, and why, she uses contemporary artists as role models in her classroom. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C. Like many veterans, Carhart read Lins design through the lens of his own experience: encountering an America that was at best indifferent and at worst outright hostile towards soldiers returning from Vietnam. Two nights later, Maddox and the destroyer USS Turner Joy were on patrol in the Gulf and reported they were under attack. 3) It provoked antiwar sentiment. Most importantly, they needed to navigate the channels of government authorizations and approvals. (His son, Marine Corps lance corporal Richard Fitzgibbon III would be killed in action in Vietnam September 7, 1965. 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. The Vietnam Wall, as it's commonly known, stands as a tribute to the war's veterans, who consider it a tangible symbol that the American people recognized and honored for their service. 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. In the nine months since hed been in-country, Scruggs had already seen a lot of action and had been wounded in a battle near Xuan Loc. The memorial was built to honor that spirit and the sacrifice of so many who gave everything they had to give. The Vietnam War was a divisive and politically polemic war. Like all stereotypes, this one was unfair. The U.S., possessing the largest foreign military presence, essentiallydirected the war from 1965 to 1968. Reagans 1981 inaugural speech exemplified the political rhetoric used by his administration to promote his vision to the American public. Each contestant sealed his or her name in an envelope and taped it to the back of the submission. 7. Michael Clark, Remembering Vietnam, Cultural Critique 3 (Spring 1986): 50. I had my ear to the ground, Mathias recalled. 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. Its army lacked reserves, while the NVA was growing. Video: Why was the Vietnam women's memorial so significant? 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 solution on how to locate a name evolved into a directory of names with an alphabetical listing andthe panel and line number of each name. The Best Answer To The Question Why was the vietnam war memorial so controversial? 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. 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. ever and endured a raging national controversy over the avant-garde . By Thursday morning, it was down to 39. The families of service members who were missing in action originally wanted their names listed separately. 6. zThe Vietnam Wall Controversy, Round 3, October 1981January 1982, History on Trial, Lehigh University Digital Library, accessed April 21, 2011, https://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/r3/october/. As a first step, VVMF retained architect Paul Spreiregen to serve as the Professional Advisor for the competition. About Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Instead, Lin found John Benson, a master stonecutter, to hand cut the text at the apex the years of the earliest and latest casualties from the Department of Defense list and the brief prologue and epilogue adjacent to the dates. They found that they were very real people who did many of the same things they did, recalled Spreiregen. Seven more such immolations occurred that year. Omissions? . Many pushed friends in wheelchairs. She was regularly swept up and raced to the bomb shelter with her parents and siblings. Furthermore, he explicitly framed his interpretation of the memorial in (perceived) opposition to an explicitly artistic perspective. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. We expect them to do the work of history writing, to draw single comprehensible narratives out of a Gorgons nest of individual, often contradictory, experiences. Intellectually and emotionally, America could embrace the idea. 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. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. It was becoming apparent that we had been able to be instruments to something far greater than anything we had ever imagined.. The Three Soldiers, 198284. 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. However, that posed a problem of how tolocate an individual name. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. 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. The reputation of the jurors was important to attract the best designers and to minimize second guessing by the Federal approval bodies. They struck at least 30 provincial capitals and the major cities of Saigon and Hue. In previous war, progress and setbacks could be shown on maps; large enemy units could be engaged and destroyed. The memorial itself, was a . It was a direct result of the First Indochina War (19461954) between France, which claimed Vietnam as a colony, and the communist forces then known as Viet Minh. This presented the new MACV commander (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam), General William C. Westmoreland with a thorny challenge: how to show the American people progress was being made. The shift, however, did not represent a resolved conflict between public art and public memory and memorialization, but merely a temporary relocation of the site of debate. Revisiting the terms of this conflict not only provides insight into how and why visual art came to be so politicized in the 1980s, but also sheds light on the debates of our present historical moment, which, in many ways, parallel the debates of that period regarding the social purpose of art. In July 1980, Congress passed a bill authorizing three acres on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to serve as the memorial site. The added component of military security made the location even more attractive, since it would ensure no interference with the designs or the judging. As time progressed it caused more and more controversy in the United States. That changed in August 1964. 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. 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). Just before Christmas 1979, Warner hosted a fundraising breakfast in his Georgetown home. By years end, 23,000 American military personnel would be in South Vietnam. In less than two weeks, these strategic bombers had shattered the norths defenses. As noted above, a number of sources warned U.S. leaders against becoming embroiled in Southeast Asia. Everyone wanted to join the effort. Each juror was required to read Fields of Fire, A Rumor of War, and other current literature about the Vietnam War. Jan Scruggss and VVMF members desire for a memorial that would heal the social rifts wrought by the war was wishful thinking. Congress swiftly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that removed most restrictions from the president in regards to Vietnam. 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. Instead they found bitterness and discontent and they were often disliked by the public. Cupp attended many of their meetings on Capitol Hill as they drummed up support. In a February 27, 1968, broadcast he summed up what he had found during his return trip to the war zone. 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. Ibid. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. 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. Bob was the detail person and a good writer. The original design proposal called for all of the names to be individually hand-chiseled in the stone, but it was soon realized the time and money it would take to do that were impractical. The list of tasks to achieve such a goal seemed endless. Financial costs had risen to $30 billion a year. [] Over the past two months, art mullahs of every description have begun a holy war against the addition of [Harts] statue.8. Such images pack tremendous emotional punch but often lack context. Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to. The U.S. suffered over 47,000 killed in action plus another 11,000 non-combat deaths; over 150,000 were wounded and 10,000 missing. North Vietnam, had by then established a presence in Laos and developed the Ho Chi Minh Trail through that country in order to resupply and reinforce its forces in South Vietnam. They needed support, friendship and help. Marling and Silberman, 11. William Jayne, who had been wounded in Vietnam, volunteered to head up public relations activities. 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. 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. 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. 17. 2. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. 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. 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. Black walls, the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation.. . 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. Everything has to be thought out and in place before the launch button is pressed.. That same month, Kennedy himself was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. But how and where could all of the submissions be displayed? Post-war, the French tried to re-establish control but faced organized opposition from the Viet Minh (short for Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi, or League for the Independence of Vietnam), led by Ho Chi Minh and Giap. Mathias and Warner continued to rally support and ferry the legislation. 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. 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. They were unwrapped, number coded, photographed for the record, and prepared for display. 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. Although differences in the two bills required a Conference Committee to meet, on July 1, at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation providing two acres for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. Frances military involvement in Vietnam began when it sent warships in 1847, ostensibly to protect Christians from the ruling emperor Gia Long. Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. A lingering question of the war is what might have happened if Eisenhower and Ho had arranged a meeting; possibly, an accord could have been reached, or possibly Ho was simply seeking to limit American involvement, in order to more easily depose the Diem government. and was so hurt by the controversy . No government funds would be necessary. On January 27, 1973, peace accords were signed between North Vietnam and the U.S. Learn more about featured topics of the Vietnam War and Vietnam Era. 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. Moreover, could it accomplish all of that while listing the approximately 58,000 names in an artistic, meaningful way? 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. The Selective Service System during the Vietnam war was highly controversial, especially because early in the war draftees came disproportionately from poor, working-class, rural, and minority populations. His political party, the Democrats, had been blamed for China falling to communism; withdrawing from Vietnam could hurt them in the 1964 elections. And Congress had declared a Vietnam Veterans Week for that April to honor those who had returned home. On April 30, 1980, the Senate approved legislation authorizing the Memorial, followed by approval in the House on May 20, 1980. Within months after he recovered from his wounds and returned to his unit, the American public was learning the details of the events at My Lai. 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. He made an impassioned plea for funding to his guests, members of the defense industry. The flag-waving crowds even cheered., Over the four days there were also workshops, parties, events, and reunions. 2) It applauded feminist efforts. North Vietnam was a prodigy of both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Red China. Sturken, 322; Anne Swartz, American Art After September 11: A Consideration of the Twin Towers, Symploke 14, nos. As soon as the design was chosen,the next step was to consider the all-important details of getting it built. The body count policy fell into disfavor and was not employed in future American wars; in Vietnam it led officers to inflate enemy casualties. General Westmoreland had been promoted to Army Chief of Staff and replaced in Vietnam by Gen. Creighton Abrams. She is still remembered fondly by veterans for the moving Memorial she designed for them. Not only was Harts statue included at the memorial site, but a flagpole was added as well. Or, people would tell me, Well why did you let him go? Of course, what choice do you have?. 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. ' Continuing, Wolfe sarcastically asked: Shouldnt public sculpture delight the public or inspire the public or at least remind the public of cherished traditions? 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 the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). A cadre was drawn from those who went north; they were trained, equipped and sent back to the south to aid in organizing and guiding the insurgency. Here are four facts about the provocative memorial. Which Secretary of the Interior James Watt then threatens to scuttle! Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. What they did need, however, was an acceptable location for the Memorial and enough support to push the idea through various governmental committees and agencies. 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. . First Inaugural Address (January 20, 1981), Ronald Wilson Reagan, Miller Center For Public Affairs, University of Virginia, accessed April 21, 2011, https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3407. He found that returning veterans were finding it hard to trust people. An electrical storm was interfering with the ships radar and may have given the impression of approaching attack boats. During President Dwight Eisenhowers administration (19531961), financial aid was given to pay South Vietnams military forces and American advisors were sent to help train them. Once there was no more room for conflictthe memorials form, upon dedication, was no longer negotiablethe front in this culture war moved elsewhere. They would include a big National Salute to Vietnam Veterans at Veterans Day. 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. Names of all who died in the war or . Before the 1880s, the French controlled Vietnam. The women soldiers the nurses suffered too. A different feeling prevailed among many within the U.S. government. Early on in the effort to get the Memorial built, there were traces of controversy. From the beginning, people have left tributes at its base. The Vietnam War is the commonly used name for the Second Indochina War, 19541975. 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. The chief design criteria were that the memorial be 1) reflective and contemplative in character; 2) be harmonious with its site and environment, 3) make no political statement about the war itself, and 4) contain the names of all who died or remained missing. With the jury selected, the next task was to announce and promote the competition. But Lin doesn't like anybody "drawing mustaches" on her design and, with the support of many in the Art world, pressures the Commission of Fine Arts to scuttle the compromise and hatch a new one. 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). Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? With permit in hand, Doubek instructedto commence construction immediately. Some observers attributed this factor to Maya Lins presence on the jurying panel, which also included victims families, political appointees, curators, and other artists.17 It was even announced at one point that Walkers and Arads design resembled a sketch that Lin had made for the sort of memorial that might be placed at the site.18 Like Lins design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Reflecting Absence was criticized for failing to incorporate any representations of human figures, its minimal design interpreted as a rejection of codes of heroism.19 In a practical reenactment of the negotiation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the addition of a representational statue of three firefighters hoisting a flag at Ground Zero was proposed. One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. Security was improving even as American forces were in the process of withdrawing. To achieve this effect she chose polished black granite for the walls. The love and acceptance that the American people gave to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have continued unabated for over 25 years. 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. 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. After the dedication, Scruggs and Wheeler walked together along the upper side of the Memorial ground, near Constitution Avenue.
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