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Komunyakaa's Facing It Marvin, Thomas F The Explicator; Summer 2003; 61, 4; ProQuest Research Library pg. 242
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial From "Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices"
Located on the Washington Mall in the nation’s capital, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a V-shaped, black granite wall, measuring 400 feet (122 meters) long, inscribed with the names of the more than 58,000 veterans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, listed in the chronological order in which they died. Designed by Maya Lin, who at the time was an architectural student at Yale University, the $8 million, privately financed monument was dedicated on November 13, 1982. The most visited memorial in Washington, D.C., the site was baptized by fire in the culture wars.
The memorial was the inspiration of Jan Scruggs, who had served in the war as a rifleman. He envisioned a memorial that listed by name every military person who died in the conflict, spanning the years 1957 to 1975. Eventually, a total of 650,000 individuals made monetary donations for the project. On July 1, 1980, President Jimmy Carter approved the allocation of two acres (0.81 hectares) on Constitution Gardens (located between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial) for the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Although the idea for the memorial was widely favored, the unveiling of Lin’s design led to acrimonious debate. Opponents argued that it reflected an attitude of shame toward the war. The design called for the wall to be set into an embankment, and critics argued that it should be built above ground, not below. They also contended that the color should be white, not black. Moreover, the austere monument was said to lack patriotic ambience. Those in favor of Lin’s design—many of whom preferred a nonpolitical memorial, so as not to honor war—said that it reflected the nobility of sacrifice.
The praised the “extreme dignity and restraint” of Lin’s vision, but industrialist and later presidential candidateNew York Times H. Ross Perot, who donated $160,000 for the design competition, regarded the winning entry as a disgrace. Novelist Tom Wolfe denounced the design as “a tribute to Jane Fonda” and the committee that approved it the “Mullahs of Modernism.” The conservative magazine declared it “Orwellian glop” and called on the Reagan administration to halt the project.National Review Others described it as “a black gash of shame.”
James Watt, the secretary of the Department of Interior, resisted issuing a groundbreaking permit and did so only after demanding that an American flag and statue be added. In another compromise, two brief inscriptions, a prologue and epilogue, were added to the wall of names. After a three-day prayer vigil at the National Cathedral in which the names of all the war dead were read, the memorial was officially dedicated in a ceremony attended by more than 150,000 people.
The flag, on a sixty-foot (18.3-meter) staff, was added in 1983, and Frederick Hart’s bronze sculpture of three American soldiers was installed the following year; both were placed to the side of the wall, rather than in front of it, as Watt had desired. After years of more debate, a sculpture honoring women veterans was added in 1993. A plaque was placed in the plaza area in 2004, stating, “We honor and remember their sacrifice.” In 2006, an underground visitor center was approved, but some veterans denounced it as a reminder of Viet Cong tunnels. For most visitors over the years, however, the power of walking along the wall, finding the name of a loved one inscribed on the surface, and reaching out to touch it has triumphed over the design dispute.
Designer Maya Lin stands alongside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial shortly after its dedication in 1982. The innovative original design met with resistance, and several elements were added. (James P. Blair/National Geographic/Getty
Images),
See also: ; ; ; ; ; ; American Civil Religion Anti-Intellectualism Fonda, Jane National Review Perot, H. Ross September 11 Memorial ; ; ; ; .Vietnam Veterans Against the War Vietnam War Watt, James Wolfe, Tom World War II Memorial
Further Reading
Scruggs, Jan C., and . . New York: , 1985. Swerdlow, Joel L. To Heal a Nation: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Harper and Row
ROGER CHAPMAN
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