The Vietnam Wall Controversy - Round 5

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1/26/1988. Beating up on CFA chair Brown.: "Picking a Bone With a Bureaucrat: Official Links Canine Corps with Valor of Servicewomen," by Elaine Viets, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 01/26/88: 3D. Critical commentary on many of CFA chair Brown's comments at the October meeting, which included the comment that "if we allow a statue of a woman, we'll have to add other statues such as one for the canine corps." [FullText]
2/4/1988. Congress proposes.: Senator Durenberger's bill to authorize a women's memorial: Congressional Record -- Senate: S655-658 [FullText]
2/13/1988. The memorial is complete as is.: "The Wall, Complete," by Benjamin Forgey, Washington Post, 02/13/88: B1. "There are at present two meddlesome proposals awaiting action by the Congress, each with strong bipartisan support and each proposing to complete the memorial by adding elements to it. As if this great statement of sorrow and healing were somehow incomplete. It is a sad, tiresome irony: the very success of the memorial has made it irresistible to factions that would reduce the beauty, the force, the cohesiveness of the object of their professed affections." [FullText]
2/23/1988. "Vietnam Women's Memorial," Hearings before the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, National Parks, and Forests, U.S. Senate, 100th Congress -- relative to S.J. 2042.
2/23/1988. Statement by J. Carter Brown, Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts at the above hearing.: Brown sketches and defends the history of the CFA's involvement in the memorial design and approval process. [PDF]
2/24/1988. Arguments against the Women's memorial.: "Plan to Honor Women Vietnam Vets Criticized," (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, 02/24/88. Testimony by Robert Doubek of the VVMF and Maya Lin at the Senate hearing. Lin and Brown suggested "it would be more appropriate to build a separate monument to all uniformed U.S. women since World War II." [FullText]
2/25/1988. Fox Television News Commentary by Nancy Dickerson.: "Everyone who's been to the Viet Nam wall knows its mystic aura; it's an emotional experience like being alone in a small church. And I pray Congress won't ruin it. As a card carrying feminist, I oppose adding a female statue." [PDF]
2/26/1988. Argument for the women's memorial.: "Judge It as a Memorial, Not as Artwork," letter to the editor, Washington Post, 02/26/88: A22. "Mr. Forgey judges the Vietnam Veterans Memorial not as a national monument, but as a work of art. . . . The addition of a flag or a statue of a nurse will affect the artistic integrity of the design. But the Mall is not an art gallery. It is a place to preserve what the people of the United States hold most dear to them. The two proposed changes are an inevitable attempt to give a voice to a memorial which so far has been silent on a deeply troubling era in our history." [FullText]
2/27/1988. Against.: "Leave the Vietnam Memorial Alone," Washington Post, 02/27/88: A22. "We are among those who oppose any further tinkering with the memorial. There are practical reasons -- why honor nurses, for example, and not American Indians. . . . But there are important esthetic considerations too. . . . It is a work of art. . . . The Mall and especially the monuments belong to all the people of the nation, but the citizens of this area take special pride in the beauty of the capital city. . . . The monument has been complete for six years and is magnificent the way it is. Congress should leave this work of art alone." [FullText]
2/28/1988. For.: "Healers Belong with the Heroes in Honoring War Veterans," letter to the editor, Arkansas Gazette, 02/28/88. "I am one of the 10,000 women who served this country during the war in Vietnam. . . .Needless to say, I was devastated to learn that the Commission of Fine Arts had refused to allow the statue. . . .I urge the Commission of Fine Arts to reconsider its sexist decision. . . . The Veterans Memorial Gardens will only be complete when healers are allowed to rest with the heroes!" [FullText]
3/7/1988. A memorial in Arlington.: "Woman of the Wall," U.S. News & World Report, 03/07/88: 13. "Almost half the Senate is backing a bill to override objections [by the CFA] and place the nurse at the Wall. As it is, under legislation enacted in 1986, all women who served in foreign wars will soon be honored with their own monument -- perhaps in Arlington Cemetery." [FullText]
3/7/1988. Letter from CFA chairman Brown to Senator Bumpers.: Brown pushes for "omitting a specific mandate for 'a statue of a woman' and broadening the Senate bill to read 'specific commemoration of women Vietnam veterans.'" [PDF]
3/7/1988. Vietnam memorabilia.: "In Bits and Pieces, This is Their Vietnam," by William E. Schmidt, New York Times, 03/17/88: A14. A vet puts his memorabilia on display in what he calls the Vietnam War Museum. [FullText]
4/10/1988. Public commentary on the women's memorial.: "Memorial to Women Veterans Is Sought," by Fred Abdella, New York Times, 04/10/88: 12: 2 (NJ) Comments by several people, including, interestingly, "I believe the statue is limited in its representation. Specifically, it represents an Army nurse who was an officer, obviously not taking into account enlisted women." [FullText]
4/15/1988. For: The Vietnam healing process is NOT complete.: "Vietnam Women Suffer with No Healing in Sight," by Moira Kirylo, Marquette (MN) Tribune, 04/15/88, 4. "It seems to me that somehow the Vietnam Memorial transcends questions of delicate balance and artistic tension. The Vietnam healing process is NOT complete. . . . Women are not a subgroup and their role in the Vietnam War should not be trivialized and denigrated as the Commission of Fine Arts has done. And though J. Carter Brown may be very worthy of an honorary degree from Marquette, the women who have always lent their support in all wars are more that deserving of a statue dedicated to them at the Wall." [FullText]
5/1988. Against: The memorial is a masterpiece already.: "Proposed Additions to Vietnam Memorial Spark Controversy," Architecture, May 1988: 48-49. Article surveys the controversy with quotes from all interested parties, and a note at the end about the issue cover says, "These efforts [for an additional statue] must be turned back because the memorial is, as is, a masterpiece and one of Washington's most emotive shrines. The additions would be desecrations." [FullText]
5/8/1988. For: This will complete the memorial.: "Women Demand Place on Vietnam Memorial," by Fred Abdella, New York Times, 05/08/88: 12: 6 (CT) Representative Sam Gejdenson: "War is not gender specific. . . . The more than 10,000 women who served in Vietnam were no less brave, made no less a sacrifice, and were no less affected than their male counterparts. By adding a statue of a woman soldier to the three fighting men already at the site, we will fittingly complete the memorial." [FullText]
5/10/1988. Personnel problems: change in leadership.: "Memorial Board Replaces Chairman," by David Shaffer, St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, 05/10/88. A lawsuit filed by Diane Carlson Evans, who helped found the organization, alleging high spending and other factors, led to the ouster of Donna-Marie Boulay as head of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project. [FullText]
5/11/1988. The new leader.: "Vietnam Women Vets Replace Leader of War Memorial Effort," (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, 05/11/88. The new head, replacing Boulay, is Lt. Col. Evangeline Jamison. [FullText]
5/12/1988. Senate committee gives approval.: "Senate Panel OKs Statue of Nurse at Vietnam Memorial," (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, 05/12/88: 8B. 16-1 approval in committee, and full Senate approval is predicted. In regard to the personnel problems, "Boulay denied all charges . . . . said that the problems [relating to her firing] relate to differences she has had with Diane Evans. . . . Boulay, who was not salaried, said that her expense accounts were not excessive." [FullText]
5/19/1988. Against: memorialize elsewhere.: "Don't Statue It Up," Savannah Morning News, 05/19/88. "Don't put another statue alongside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. The Senate, unfortunately, is in the statue-erecting mood. . . . The stone slabs will upstage any statue built nearby. . . . There is another option. Two years ago, Congress authorized a separate monument to all American women who have served in the armed forces since World War II. For some reason, one has never been built. Erect one now. And keep the Wall from becoming a sculpture garden." [FullText]
5/27/1988. "Additional Views of Senator Evans." Senator Daniel Evans. Senate Report 100-371. Calendar No. 704. "I am very concerned when Congress gets involved in prescribing artistic details. I can think of few things worse than having a capital city in which the entire artistic composition has been dictated by measures of Congress. My opposition to the bill certainly does not reflect antipathy towards women or a lack of respect for their contribution in the armed forces."
5/28/1988. The faces started coming back.: "Nurse Leads Memorial Drive," by Michele Lesie, (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, 05/28/88. Diane Carlson Evans: It took "going to the Wall . . . for it all to come out. . . . I remembered the name of one man I took care of. I found his name and I touched it, and I cried for the very first time since the war. Before, I had no tears for anything. I started crying in 1982, and then I couldn't stop. The faces started coming back, one by one." [FullText]
6/1988. VWMP headquarters moves from Minneapolis to Washington.
6/4/1988. Against: The Christmas tree syndrome.: "The war on the wall," by David Corn, Jefferson Morely, Nation, 06/04/88: 780. "Congressional sponsors of the new statue are treating the memorial as a Christmas tree on which every constituency gets its own ornament. . . . Robert Dornan, the crazed California Republican, has introduced a bill to place a flagpole at the vertex . . . a bit of petty Reaganite revenge on the millions who like the memorial as it stands." [FullText]
6/15/1988. Senate passes S.J. 2042 by a vote of 96-1.
6/15/1988. Full Senate approval.: "Senate Backs Women's Memorial," by Phil McCombs, Washington Post, 06/15/88: B1. Surveys Senate testimony and other past and present comments about the memorial. [FullText]
6/16/1988. Against: Why spoil the memorial?: "Why Spoil the Vietnam Memorial?" Washington Post, 06/16/88: A20. Instead of meekly accepting a plan to spoil one great memorial in the name of another, House members can do better by both causes. Rejection of a statue at the existing memorial site does not diminish this country's respect for any veterans, nor does it preclude the dedication of another memorial at a separate, appropriate site. House members who recognize this opportunity should work to undo the Senate's mistake in favor of a more effective, sensible response." [FullText]
6/21/1988. House Hearing before the Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials of the Committee on House Administration.
6/22/1988. Report on the House hearing.: "Action on the Women's Memorial," Washington Post, 06/22/88: C1. 18 of the 26 witnesses at the House hearing spoke for the bill. Actress Loretta Swit: "The women who served in Vietnam deserve a statue. . . . They sacrificed, they served, they suffered, and when they got back they were dismissed." But Maya Lin spoke against: "I cannot foresee how quiet and respectful this area will remain if we continue to add to it or to adorn it, filling the area with political concessions and turning the quiet sanctuary of the memorial into a cluttered sculpture garden." [FullText]
6/27/1988. Another battle.: "Viet Memorial: Another Battle," by Connie Leslie, Newsweek, 06/27/88: 6. "To soothe critics of architect Maya Lin's stark wall of names, officials erected a statue of three infantrymen and a flagpole. Last week the Senate approved an additional monument." [FullText]
7/1988. Against: Use another location.: "AIA opposes another Vietnam statue on the Mall," AIA Memo, July/August 1988: 4. "We in no way oppose [the new bill's] underlying motivation -- to commemorate the service and to honor the sacrifice of women who served in the Vietnam War . . . But we do not agree that the commemoration of their service must necessarily take the form of a separate monument within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial." [FullText]
7/2/1988. Against: Artists have rights.: "Leave the Wall Alone," letter to the editor, Washington Post, 07/02/88: A22. "I used to support the idea of a Vietnam women's memorial. . . . [But] Artists do have rights, and designer Maya Lin's have been trampled on by every factional group associated with the memorial. . . . The memorial should be returned to the original design she proposed. . . . The emotional wounds of Vietnam will only heal when we have 'living memorials' for all veterans -- for instance, shelters and programs for the homeless." [FullText]
7/8/1988. Letter from Mary Rose Oakar, Chair of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials, to CFA chair Brown.: Request for information pursuant to the June House hearing. [PDF]
7/15/1988. Return letter from Brown to Oakar.: Brown rehearses the whole history of the monument. [PDF]
7/28/1988.: "Vietnam's Other Vets," by Arnold Evans, Newsday 07/28/88. [FullText]
9/22/1988. Committee on House Adminstration report by Mary Rose Oakar: House of Representatives Report 100-948.
9/23/1988. The House, having rejected S.J. 2042, passes another bill authorizing a memorial without specifying a site.
10/12/1988. The Senate passes an amended version of S.J. 2042.
10/21/1988. The House rejects the new Senate bill, and the Senate accepts the House version.
10/21/1988. Let's do it.: Oakar asks for immediate consideration of the bill to authorize the women's memorial: Congressional Record -- House H10759-10760 [FullText]
11/2/1988. Letter from CFA chair Brown to the president's office indicating no objection to legislation to establish the memorial.: [PDF]
11/15/1988. President Reagan signs S.J. 2042, which becomes Public Law 100-600.
11/17/1988. The President makes it so.: "Reagan Signs Bill for Vietnam Women's Memorial," by Kara Swisher, Washington Post, 11/17/88: C4. "President Reagan signed into law late Tuesday a bill authorizing construction of a memorial honoring women Vietnam veterans. . . . The White House statement, though, prematurely located the memorial at the 2.2-acre site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and also said it would take the form of a statue." [FullText]