Its mirror-like surface reflects the images of the surrounding trees, lawns and monuments. 35, Special Issue: Monumental Histories (Summer, 1991), pp. South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem (1901 - 1963) watching an agricultural show just minutes after an assassination attempt had been made on his life. Then, in October 1980, veteran and lawyer Tom Carhart, also a former supporter, testified before the Commission of Fine Arts 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. If you are interested in receiving a rubbing of a name on The Wall, please fill out our Name Rubbing Request Form. Sturken, 322. The committee who chose her design was hesitant and dubious. Select image to open larger view. Karal Ann Marling and Robert Silberman, The Statue Near the Wall: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Art of Remembering, Smithsonian Studies in American Art 1, no. Nonsense. Next Article. Free of overt historical reference to either the Egyptian or Greco-Roman traditions of monument designthe main visual touchstones for American memorial-buildingLins design broke with these traditions through its use of black granite, polished to a reflective smoothness (instead of white limestone or marble); its horizontal orientation, submerged into the earth instead of rising vertically; and its lack of any figurative ornamentation or any embellishment at all, save for the chronological listing of names of soldiers killed in the course of the war, etched into the granites mirror-like surface. 2. The plan, however, was eventually scrapped, once the initial haggling over the racial identity of the firefighters gave way to accusations of political correctness on the part of the memorials planners.20. Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to the . Because of this, Mathias appointed her to manage the details and to work with Scruggs, Doubek, and Wheeler on the legislation for the memorial. John Wheeler chairman of the veterans group that raised the seven million dollars to build it, suggests, It has to dp with the presence of comrades. In 1941, a Vietnamese nationalist movement, the Viet Minh, was formed by their leader Ho Chi Minh (18901969) to resist the occupiers. 1. Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium: University of Washington.Anti-War Protests of the 1960s-70s. 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. https://www.thoughtco.com/vietnam-veterans-memorial-winner-178136 (accessed May 2, 2023). Vietnam is a country in south-east Asia. It also offered a way to exorcise lingering bitterness and anxieties that the war had propagated. Ali, then heavyweight champion of the world, declared himself a "conscientious objector," earning a prison sentence (later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court) and a three-year ban from boxing. 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), Political Consequences of Vietnam War Protests, Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium: University of Washington, https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-protests.