As Sturken notes in her essay, The Aesthetics of Absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero, the impetus to create a memorial at the site of the Twin Towers was almost instantaneousby the next day, even as the names and number of dead remained unknown, there was discussion of a memorial.13 Discussions about what to do with the site addressed two twin concerns: the redevelopment of what had been both a hub of commercial activity and an integral part of a broader residential neighborhoodlower Manhattanand the memorialization of the loss of lives that occurred at the site. A different feeling prevailed among many within the U.S. government. Thus, it is unsurprising that the first skirmish of the culture wars of the 1980s can be traced back to the public debate that broke out in reaction to Maya Lins design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. That would have made any negotiation with Ho politically ticklish. 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. 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. Afghanistan and the forever war myth | Philip Collins IAI TV In 2009 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the site. They did not like the idea that it was below ground level. 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? The more people you got to co-sponsor, the more people wanted to join.. 3. The selected design then had to go through Federal agency approval and development into finished plans. Im sure I looked like a deer in the headlights, I was so nervous, Scruggs recalled. Vietnam veteran Joseph Zengerle, then an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, volunteered the use of an aircraft hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Washington, D.C. As memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. By Thursday morning, it was down to 39. [] Over the past two months, art mullahs of every description have begun a holy war against the addition of [Harts] statue.8. South Vietnam By 1979, the country was beginning to have more positive feelings toward Vietnam veterans. and was so hurt by the controversy . They stressed that all funds for the Memorial would be raised from private donations. It just resonated, he explained. The memorial consists of three parts: the Three Servicemen Statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. They treated the moms the same as they treated the vets. 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. The Draft - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund General Westmoreland had been promoted to Army Chief of Staff and replaced in Vietnam by Gen. Creighton Abrams. 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. To make matters worse, Diem responded by sending troops to raid pagodas. His successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, inherited the Vietnam situation. 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. How did people react to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? 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. . Daniel Abramson, Maya Lin and the 1960s: Monuments, Time Lines, and Minimalism, Critical Inquiry 22, no. However, the years that saw the memorials proposal, design, and construction1980 to 1982coincided with a momentous shift in the topography of American political culture: the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the ensuing negotiation of a new federal agenda. The controversy surrounding the memorial instantly vanished from the pages of the press, replaced by celebrations of its interactivity, tranquility, and emotive power. I am tired of hearing it called such by you. We didnt have any space, but I liked their idea and told them I would volunteer to help with all that I could.. Why was the Vietnam Memorial so controversial? - Yoforia.com To Heal a Nation, a book written by Jan Scruggs and Joel Swerdlow about the creation of the Memorial, provides a vivid sketch of the scene: I have heard your arguments, said General Price. 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. Two younger monks poured a mix of gasoline and jet fuel over him and, as the three had planned, set fire to him. The "Black Gash of Shame"Revisiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 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. On that January day, There was a big explosion, Scruggs recalled. A s memorials are objects of public commemoration, we demand a lot of them. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. In late spring 1969, American and South . By early 1980, contributions started to arrive. He was in Vietnam, serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. It was like a Woodstock atmosphere in Washington for those who had served in Vietnam, recalled Scruggs. . 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. The first cut was further reduced to 90 by midday Wednesday. Others questioned the intent of the Memorial. Watt followed on March 11, 1982, by granting permission for the construction permits. 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. Mai also remembers being annoyed when her playtime was interrupted by the air-raid sirens. Because he possessed great knowledge of history, he understood the extensive healing process required after war. 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. 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. Republican Richard Nixon won the presidency in the fall elections. For example, veteran Tom Carhart famously commented: I dont care about artistic perceptions, I dont care about the rationalizations that abound. The Vietnam War Starts In 1954, following the defeat of the French colonialists at the hands of the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu, the last battle of the First Indochina War, the country of. 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. But how and where could all of the submissions be displayed? Memorials are built to give context and, possibly, meaning to suffering that is otherwise incomprehensible. When VVMF announced the selection of Lins design, the initial public reaction was generally positive. A few of the most vocal opponents, including James Webb and H. Ross Perot, had previously been strong supporters of a memorial. It was the Senators gut feeling that we needed to do this., This was serious business, Mathias said. Its mere existence would be societal recognition that their sacrifices were honorable rather than dishonorable. It set the tone for the ensuing cultural debates pitting the people against the elites, as found in Tom Wolfes criticism of Lins memorial design. Charles Mac Mathias, a Navy veteran of World War II, had been opposed to the war in Vietnam, but he had always respected those who served in it. We do not memorialize bus accidents, which by nature are contextless, meaningless. Or, people would tell me, Well why did you let him go? Of course, what choice do you have?. 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. United States: 540,000 . 9. But instead of enthusiasm, he received skepticism. 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. The three of them had different strengths, Healy explained. 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. As soon as the design was chosen,the next step was to consider the all-important details of getting it built. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Credit: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) . Cupp attended many of their meetings on Capitol Hill as they drummed up support. 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. Hi, Im Claire. 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. They serve as testaments to lives lost, as repositories of grief, and to facilitate processes of mourning. The design competition also needed to be able to attract design competitors.. In a February 27, 1968, broadcast he summed up what he had found during his return trip to the war zone. The communist takeover of China and subsequent war in Korea (1950-53) against North Korean and Chinese troops had focused a great deal of attention on Southeast Asia as a place to take a strong stand against the spread of communism. Instead, the memorial became a dividing line between factions both real and imagined. Our country needed something symbolic to help heal our wounds.. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. Architectural drawings and a one-page written summary, 1980 or 1981. 1. 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. 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. Editors note: This essay was originally published on Art21.org in November 2011. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. 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. In fact, he would spend a lifetime trying to honor their memory. By the time of World War II, a number of groups sought Vietnamese independence but as Vo Nguyen Giapwho would build Vietnams postWWII armyexpressed it, the communists were the best organized and most action-oriented of these groups. 6 Things You May Not Know About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rip it apart.. Everyone wanted to join the effort. We had been friends for a long time, Mathias said. Climbing Hamburger Hill 50 years after the Vietnam War's The Battle of Hamburger Hill was fought May 10-20, 1969, during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). They were real guys. 1. 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. The love and acceptance that the American people gave to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have continued unabated for over 25 years. Hamburger hill number - Math Formulas Sturken notes, "the memorial was seen as a monument to defeat, one that spoke more directly to a nation's guilt than to the honor of the war dead and the veterans." The disagreements over the design revealed anxiety about ownership of the war's representation. 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. Movies were dealing more realistically with their issues. Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Location, History & FAQs Perhaps Lins centralitytwenty years after the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorialto the debate over Arads and Walkers design was inevitable, given her presence on the design competitions selection committee as well as her legacy as the definitive memorial builder of the late twentieth century. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. PDF Why was the Vietnam War so Controversial? - University of Wisconsin If all of the names could be in one place, these names would have great powera power to heal. When the 18-year-old Scruggs volunteered to enlist in the Army in 1968, debate surrounding Vietnam was escalating. Frederick Hart. Most at the meeting told him they didnt want a memorial; they wanted more benefits and government support. Dark tourism, also known as black tourism, thanatourism or grief tourism, is tourism that is associated with death or tragedy. Its primary goal was to demoralize the North Vietnamese and diminish their manufacturing and transportation abilities. 400,000 1 million military 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. Lower Manhattan must not be transformed into a vast mausoleum, obviously, but neither must it be transformed into a theme park for advanced architectural taste.15, Such rhetoric spilled over from the initial debates surrounding the redevelopment of the site of the Twin Towers to those regarding the design for the memorial. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. Emphasis switched to Vietnamization, preparing South Vietnams military to take over responsibility for continuing the war. He also said there would be a pause in the air attacks on North Vietnam as the first step to de-escalate and promised America would substantially reduce the present level of hostilities.. The walls are inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 men and women . In December Doubek became the Executive Director, working on a half-time basis for the first few months, and opened the VVMF office on January 2, 1980. A memorial made perfect sense to him. ARVN divisions in the north were surrounded and routed. Why the Battle for Hamburger Hill Was So Controversial. And if they themselves didnt know how to help, they knew someone who did. I had my ear to the ground, Mathias recalled. Johnson wanted to focus on instituting Great Society programs at home, but Vietnam was a snake he did not dare let go of. The list of tasks to achieve such a goal seemed endless. He had been a war correspondent during World War II and had reported from Vietnam during Americas early involvement. (His son, Marine Corps lance corporal Richard Fitzgibbon III would be killed in action in Vietnam September 7, 1965. 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. 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 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. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a tribute to the dead of the United States ' longest, most unpopular, and least successful war. Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 198182. 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. Also known as "America's Longest War," U.S. involvement in Vietnam War did not end until 1973. The peasants resented being forced from their ancestral lands, and consolidating them gave the VC better targets. The military dog tags, flowers, war medals, photographs, and even favorite toys left behind aid the healing process. Laos, South Vietnam: 850,000 Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. 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. The Vietnam Wall Controversy - About - Overview - Lehigh University Civilian loss of life was also very heavy, with the lowest estimates around 415,000. In the end, the quarry in India was selected. 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. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (eBook) - Julia Hargrove 2002-03-01 The Vietnam conflict was one of the most controversial engagements in the history of the United States. 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. 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. But I was always impressed with the example my parents set.. Based on a program the British had employed successfully against insurgents in Malaya, it didnt work in Vietnam. 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.