The VC and NVA dragged off as many of their dead and wounded as possible, sometimes impressing villagers into performing this task during battles, so determining their casualties was guesswork based on such things as the number of blood trails. The Vietnam Wall Controversy, Round 4, 1982, History on Trial, Lehigh University Digital Library, accessed April 21, 2011, https://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/r4/1982/. 4) It defied spatial perception. On March 5, 1975, the NVA invaded again. 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 were feeling alienated from the nations leaders, and they had low self-esteem. I heard there was a group of serious veterans, not just people getting together to have a beer in the evening, but a group that was serious about getting together to address the problems of the veterans.. (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.) 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. Despite the stated wishes of the VVMF, Lins design proved instantaneously divisive. Because of this, Mathias appointed her to manage the details and to work with Scruggs, Doubek, and Wheeler on the legislation for the memorial. His political party, the Democrats, had been blamed for China falling to communism; withdrawing from Vietnam could hurt them in the 1964 elections. The designs were received and processed in a large warehouse east of Washington. It was such a great cause, and they were bound and determined to make it happen.. Never before or since have journalists been given such complete access to cover a war. Why was Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial? 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). 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. 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. 8. 15. China conquered the northern part of modern Vietnam in 111 BC and retained control until 938 AD; it continued to exert some control over the Vietnamese until 1885. And none of them discussed their own personal feelings or political views regarding the war. That would have made any negotiation with Ho politically ticklish. Wheeler had the idea to bypass the traditional site selection route and have Congress pass legislation to award a specific area for a memorial site. They were the only father-son pair to die in Vietnam.) No American air strikes came to aid the overstretched South Vietnamese, despite Nixons earlier assurances to Thieu. Hanoi offered to restart peace talks, yet remained intransigent in its demands. He had been a war correspondent during World War II and had reported from Vietnam during Americas early involvement. Marling and Silberman, 11. Even white troops were beginning to protest. 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 public wanted to have a hand in helping to build the Memorial and in honoring the warrior, not the war. Many had worked together, some in Washington. Thirty years later, it is difficult to think of her memorial as a controversial work of art. 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. . Corrections? 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). You had to live through that period to really understand it. CBS evening news anchor Walter Cronkite returned to Vietnam to see for himself what was happening. They came from veterans and from the neighbors, teachers, coaches and friends of veterans. Four of the eight were themselves veterans of previous wars. An author, teacher, and lecturer, Spreiregen had written the authoritative book on design competitions. Buddhists, who comprised South Vietnams majority, claimed Diem, a Catholic, favored citizens of his religion in distributing aid. They needed to secure a plot of land, raise funds and public awareness, design the Memorial, coordinate construction, and organize the dedication ceremonies. Yet, to say the media cost America victory in Vietnam is vastly oversimplifying a very complex situation. We are all equal in combat. Maya Lin worked closely with Cooper-Lecky on all aesthetic aspects of the design. Images of fighting, of dead and wounded soldiers, of POWs held in North Vietnam were beamed into Americas living rooms night after night, as was footage of hundreds, sometimes thousands of antiwar protestors marching through the streets. We had to build credibility among the design community, but also build credibility with the veterans, said Woods. Many who visit leave behind items in memoriam to those that have served. There is considerable debate over whether he was primarily nationalist or communist, but he was not especially anti-Western. Veterans needed this, and so did the nation. Lin and VVMF eventually selectedthe Cooper-Lecky Partnership as the architect-of-record, with Lin as the projects design consultant. 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. Initially, however, homefront support for the war effort grew, but by March Americans, perceiving no change in strategy that would bring the war to a conclusion, became increasingly disillusioned. In retaliation for the invasion, and in hopes of forcing Hanoi to negotiate in good faith, Nixon ordered Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam to be mined and he intensified bombing of North Vietnam. The mission of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is to honor and preserve the legacy of service and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War. In response to the designs submitted to these various competitions (generated by famed architects, artists, and members of the general public alike), conflicting interpretations once again revolved around notions of elitism versus populismharkening back to the language of the controversy over Lins memorial.14 In a 2002 debate with architect Daniel Libeskind on the matter, New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier commented, There is something a little grotesque in the interpretation of Ground Zero as a lucky break for art. Its detractors perceived it 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," 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 On January 21, 1970, Jan Scruggs was having his morning cup of coffee, but he was far from his kitchen table at home. By the time the compromise statue is dedicated, a move for the addition of a women's memorial is already underway. 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. On Saturday, a grand parade took place where veterans marched joyously out of sync, some hand-in-hand or with their arms draped around one another, holding banners, flags, and signs. Just as the American people could be a part of building the Memorial through their contributions and support, they could also have an opportunity to participate in its design. Military personnel, including nurses, were warned not to wear their uniforms in the States. 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. 4. The memorial itself, was a . 1) it commemorated an unpopular war. The Vietnam Women's Memorial was established to honor the women who risked their lives to serve their country. As a first step, VVMF retained architect Paul Spreiregen to serve as the Professional Advisor for the competition. 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. Video: The entire text size and layout Lin saw as an open book. Significant funding cuts to programs that had been instigated in the 1960s under Lyndon Johnsons Great Society domestic agenda followed, in addition to a major attack on union power. By years end, 2,573 individuals and teams had registered almost 3,800 people in total. I am always incredibly moved and heartened, especially when a veteran tells me that The Wall has helped them in some wayit could not mean more to me. Warner, at the time married to Elizabeth Taylor, had strong connections to both Hollywood and the corporate world. Crowd at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1982. They set their sights in support of the clear, simple vision Scruggs outlined:to honor the warrior and not the war. To make matters worse, Diem responded by sending troops to raid pagodas. Waiting meant they would never reach their dedication deadline of November 11, 1982. 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. The hope is that the creation of the Memorial will begin a healing process, Doubek wrote. The Gold Star Mothers is a group of mothers whose sons or daughters have died serving their country. With the introduction of legislation, the VVMF leaders realized that it was time to transition from a volunteer committee and to open a staffed office. 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. With the winning design in hand, Spreiregen had less than 24 hours to craft an explanation of the decisionand the designthat would be suitable for presentation to VVMF. 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. Many veterans, politicians, critics, and the general public read its refusal to explicitly glorify the war or frame the listed soldiers sacrifice in recognizably heroic terms as an ideological statement, proof of Linsand the memorialspurported anti-war position. while the veterans were primarily concerned with the ability of the design to offer emotional comfort to veterans and the families of the dead, either in terms of forgiveness or honor.7. and was so hurt by the controversy . But the slogan has proved remarkably effective and points to a deep truth: forever is a very short time in democratic politics, writes Philip Collins. He had studied the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, a student of Sigmund Freud, who wrote of shared societal values. The Tet Offensive shocked Americans at home, who thought the war was nearing victory. Its mirror-like surface reflects the images of the surrounding trees, lawns and monuments. Ibid. Early in his efforts Scruggs had called on Emogene Cupp, then the national president of the American Gold Star Mothers. Some antiwar protestors blamed the men and women who served in Vietnam, taunting them and spitting on them when they came home. 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. Their military experience meant they had contacts far and wide, at all levels of all professions, within government and the private sector. It seemed every time they contacted someone, they were greeted with enthusiasm for the idea. The following week, Kurt Anderson recapped the festivities for TIME magazine: Saturdays three-hour parade down Constitution Avenue, led by [Gen. William] Westmoreland, was the vets own show. I was dumbfounded that we had succeeded at doing this. When Scruggs went to see the movie in early 1979, it wasnt the graphic war scenes that haunted him. United States: 540,000 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. 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. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Private Funding No government funds were used to build the memorial, only public land. Working with the construction manager, GilbaneBuilding Company, the design team had to locate the appropriate type of granite: a flawless, reflective, deep ebony stone. They were unwrapped, number coded, photographed for the record, and prepared for display. 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. But can America truly mean that we should feel honored by that black pit?6. Together with Spreiregen, he composed a report based on these thoughtful comments. 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.