It was surreal.. It was becoming apparent that we had been able to be instruments to something far greater than anything we had ever imagined.. At its beginning, the wall is only 8 inches tall, and the names etched upon the reflective black rock begin slowly, as American involvement began slowly with the addition of advisors to South Vietnam in the late 1950s. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Why was Maya Lins Vietnam War Memorial initially controversial? Saigon had fallen to communism only 6 years before, and the Cold War against the Soviet Union continually held the world hostage to nuclear annihilation. Similar, even larger, atrocities were conducted by VC and NVA unitssuch as an NVA attack on a Buddhist orphanage at An Hoa in September 1970 or the execution of 5,000 people at Hue during the Tet Offensivebut the concept of American soldiers killing civilians in cold blood was more than many Americans could bear. All comments are held for moderation and will appear after approval. I heard that those present agreed to double their contributions after Taylor completed her remarks, Scruggs said. WebIt was built to honor those soldiers who died or were declared missing during ---- Vietnam War (1959-1975) for 16 years The memorial was designed by a --- student of architecture, ----- 21 year old, Maya Ying Lin The memorial shaped liked a V, and it is made of ---- black granite The walls are inscribed with over ---- names of soldiers 58,000 When Lin asked how many Smiths would be on The Wall, the team realized how important the chronological listing was to the design. Jack was the visionary, the creative, big-picture guy. Over 1 million wounded, 50,000 plus civilian History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Courtesy of the JFK Library. Some public officials voiced their displeasure, calling the wall a black gash of shame. An article by Hugh Sidey in the February 22, 1982, issue ofTIMEmagazine described the session: A few days ago, 40 supporters and critics of the memorial gathered to try to break the impasse that threatened the memorial because of such features as the black color of the stone and its position below ground level. Quizzes - Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Facts, Designer, & Controversy 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. On April 27, 1979, Doubek incorporated the fledgling entity, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and Scruggs asked him to be an officer and director. To achieve this effect she chose polished black granite for the walls. Saigon had fallen In April 1995, Vietnams communist government said 1.1 million combatants had died between 1954 and 1975, and another 600,000 wounded. She is still best known, however, for that memorial design that earned her a B at Yale. The idea for a memorial seemed like a natural extension of his work and his growing desire to find a way to help veterans. Why was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall so controversial? He made an impassioned plea for funding to his guests, members of the defense industry. 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. It seemed unfair and inappropriate that there should be no recognition.. American drawdown continued, with only 43,000 personnel left in-country by mid-August. Senator, referred to it as a nihilistic slab of stone. And political commentator Pat Buchanan accused one of the design judges of being a communist. Meanwhile, a few survivors have had their names erroneously chiseled into the wall. The Across the apex of the wall stands The Three Soldiers, no larger than life-size. Although thousands of people were there, It was so very quiet, Wheeler recalled. The selected design then had to go through Federal agency approval and development into finished plans. But, say those opposed, the men represent the women, the men represent all soldiers . 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. I was dumbfounded that we had succeeded at doing this. Scruggs took two weeks off from his job at the Department of Labor to develop the idea further. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history until the Afghanistan War (20012021). The veterans even faced controversy over their own memorial. Just before Christmas 1979, Warner hosted a fundraising breakfast in his Georgetown home. Then, in October 1980, veteran and lawyer Tom Carhart, also a former supporter, testified before the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) against the design, saying that One needs no artistic education to see this design for what it is, a black trench that scars the Mall. How did people react to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? Many had worked together, some in Washington. The love and acceptance that the American people gave to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have continued unabated for over 25 years. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), This 21-Year-Old College Student Designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. What explains 4: The Artistic Controversy, 3/1982-11/1985 >>>>> 1988. The amount of division in the United States during the vietnam war is astonishing as it Because he possessed great knowledge of history, he understood the extensive healing process required after war. The Mission of Cheaper Than Dirt! 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. Early in his efforts Scruggs had called on Emogene Cupp, then the national president of the American Gold Star Mothers. WebHistAnsweredBot 6 days ago. Population in the south was mostly clustered in a few areas along the coast; the north always enjoyed a larger population. You had to live through that period to really understand it. William Jayne, who had been wounded in Vietnam, volunteered to head up public relations activities. It was the Senators gut feeling that we needed to do this., This was serious business, Mathias said. Your discussions, feedback and comments are welcome here as long as they are relevant and insightful. 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 The program, which had been poorly managed, was abandoned after about two years, following the coup that deposed Diem. Below, a slideshow from the memorial. Yet, to say the media cost America victory in Vietnam is vastly oversimplifying a very complex situation. It became a sacred place of healing and reverence as she intended. 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. 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. Their initial timeline was aggressive, with an ultimate goal of dedicating the Memorial on Veterans Day 1982just a little more than 36 months away. I had a general idea that I wanted to describe a journeya journey that would make you experience death and where youd have to be an observer, where you could never really fully be with the dead. 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 part of the walls 30th-anniversary celebration in 2012, all 58,282 names were read aloud just prior to Veterans Day. Im sure I looked like a deer in the headlights, I was so nervous, Scruggs recalled. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. Lin moved to Washington and immediately became part of an internal struggle for control of the design. Encouraged by her professor, the architecture student entered it in the national design competition being held for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Adhering to the competition rules that required the memorial to be apolitical and contain the names of all those confirmed dead and missing in action in the Vietnam War, Lins design called for the names of nearly 58,000 American servicemen, listed in chronological order of their loss, to be etched in a V-shaped wall of polished black granite sunken into the ground. ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) People of all ages got to explore a special helicopter at the nations second largest Vietnam veterans memorial on Saturday. WebWhy was the Vietnam Way Memorial so controversial? One of Mathias early key suggestions was that the memorial should be on the Mall, especially because the anti-war demonstrations had taken place there. No one wanted the war to happen in the first place, so having a memorial was a constant reminder of the war no one wanted . The Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened on the National Mall in Washington, DC on 13 November, 1982. Having raised the necessary cash, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund next held a design contest. But the veterans had real problems. One of the lingering legacies of the Vietnam War is the widespread belief in America that the media cost us the war in Vietnam. Images such as the burning monk; South Vietnamese Police Chief Lt. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Loan about to pull the trigger of a pistol pointed at the head of a bound VC prisoner; of a naked young girl running crying down a road after an American napalm strike that left her badly burnedthese images and others became seared into the minds of Americans on the homefront, and in those of civilians in allied nations such as Australia. So then why do so many come to see it? The designs were received and processed in a large warehouse east of Washington. Learn More 5/1981 - 3/1982. Opposition to design and compromise The selected design was very controversial, in particular, its unconventional design, its black color and its lack of ornamentation. 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.
