"FullText" links provide a connection to electronic or print copies provided by the Lehigh Libraries and other services, such as electronic abstracts and interlibrary loan requesting.

1/21/1993. Letter from Brown of the CFA to Stanton of the National Park Service confirming approval of the design and site plan.

[PDF]

7/16/1993. A description of the statue.

"Memorial Ways," by Kevin McManus, Washington Post, 07/16/93: N7. "The bronze statue . . . depicts three women in fatigues, and a wounded male soldier: 'One is kneeling . . . and many have interpreted her as either shouldering the aftermath of war or just in deep contemplation. The standing woman appears to be looking for a helicopter evac or perhaps praying.' The woman taking care of the soldier is the only one whose role (nurse) is clearly suggested." [FullText]

7/29/1993. Breaking ground.

"Women of War: A 'thank you,'" by Andrea Stone, USA Today, 07/29/93: 3A. "Edith McCoy Meeks went into 'an emotional shutdown' after her return from Vietnam. The former nurse from Garrison, N. Y. never spoke of the mangled bodies she tended nor the young lives that slipped from her grasp. 'There was no way of releasing it,' says Meeks, who came home from the war in 1969, 'Nobody wanted to listen.' Today, Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell gives a voice to women like Meeks when he breaks ground for the Vietnam Women's Memorial." [FullText]

7/30/1993. Breaking ground.

"Breaking Ground for Vietnam Women's Memorial," New York Times, 07/30/93: A10. "Despite a $1 million shortfall in funds needed for the bronze statue of three nurses helping a wounded soldier, organizers hope the memorial, nine years in the making, will be in place by November." [FullText]

8/31/1993. Statue on tour.

"Women's Vietnam War Memorial Tours US on Way to Washington," by John Douglas, Christian Science Monitor, 08/31/93: 2. "Too many years have gone by in which women veterans didn't have a place to connect with that period in their lives. . . . Many of us were told we weren't really part of what happened in Vietnam. . . . It will help women come to grips with an extraordinarily powerful event that changed their lives." [FullText]

9/15/1993. One stop along the way.

"Viet War Women's Statue Visits," by Ellen Perlmutter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 09/15/93: B1. "Many of those who looked at the statue were struck by its emotional impact, even in the sterile parking lot of a suburban shopping mall. Some too young to have experienced Vietnam . . . were swept up in the moment." [FullText]

11/2/1993. Getting there.

"Honoring the Women," by Roxanne Roberts, Washington Post, 11/02/93: A1. "After 10 years of planning and controversy -- and a three-week tour across the country -- the 2,000-pound bronze statue was lifted by crane from a truck bed and positioned at its permanent site in a grove of trees about 300 feet in front of the Wall." [FullText]

11/6/1993. Criticism and praise.

"One Monument Too Many," Benjamin Forgey, Washington Post, 11/06/93: D1. "The wall as originally conceived did not need additions to make it complete. . . . In public art, particularly on so visible a stage as the Mall, realistic representation of one service or function or type of individual calls attention to those who are not represented. . . . The women's project has been the only successful petitioner and ought to be the last. . . . [The statue] tells a story. . . . It is an interesting, even a compelling story. It does not celebrate victory or war. To the contrary. One can almost hear the rotor blades of an incoming evacuation helicopter. One roots for the survival of the soldier. Still, this is far from a compelling work of art. . . . The result is more like an awkward still from a MASH episode. . . . This sincere, blatheringly sentimental sculpture clearly satisfies the women vets need to have their service and sacrifices recognized more dramatically than by eight names among the wall's thousands. . . . But it contributes nothing to the memorial's overall formal and expressive meaning and power." [FullText]

"Hail the Heroines," by Jacqueline Klein, The Times, 11/06/93: Features. "When there was an unofficial unveiling of the sculpture in Santa Fe in August, many of those who had been closely involved in the project were in tears as they released the pain and anguish of their own experiences." Glenna Goodacre: "I read a great deal and viewed many videos of the war. I really got into the period. But I hated it. It was awful; excruciating; a real downer. I became very depressed. Once I was finished with my work I decided never to read or see anything about the Vietnam war ever again." Diane Carlson Evans: " When I argued the case for the idea of a memorial for women in the Vietnam war, I told federal officials that without those nurses, the Vietnam Memorial Wall would stretch 50 miles. . . . These women touched thousands of those names on the wall. It is right that we should be close to them now physically, spiritually and emotionally." [FullText]

11/8/1993. All-inclusive statue.

"U.S. Statue Honors Female Vietnam Vets," by Roxanne Roberts, Toronto Star, 11/08/93: A13. "While all the figures are wearing fatigues, sculptor Glenna Goodacre deliberately included no identifuing insignia, to symbolically include all the women -- military, medical and even civilian volunteers." [FullText]

11/9/1993. The Dedication nears.

"Vietnam Memorial for Women Is Ready at Last," (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, 11/09/93: 6C. Diane Carlson Evans: "Women are also soldiers. Women also need to heal. Their service is worthy of equal recognition." [FullText]

"Vietnam Women's Memorial," (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, 11/09/93: B6. "We think the bronze figure that appears to embody the spirit of the women who went to Vietnam is the one sitting on a pile of sandbags holding the fallen soldier in her arms." [FullText]

11/10/1993. "Remarks Honoring the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project," by President Clinton, Public Papers of the Presidents, 11/10/93. Secretary Brown: "Mr. President, I'd just like to make one observation. It appears to me that this memorial here is a living memorial. It speaks to all people who pass by, that freedom is not free, that there is a cost for war when you place people in armed conflict. And that I think in that respect, it will serve our nation very, very well as a symbol of peace and the extent with which we will go to make sure that peace comes about in our world."

11/10/1993. "Proclamation 6622 -- National Women Veterans Recognition Week," by President Clinton, Public Papers of the Presidents, 11/10/93. "The loyalty and the sacrifices of the women who have served our country merit the respect and admiration of all of us. It is fitting then that we set aside a special time to honor these veterans, to salute them for their tireless devotion to duty, while in uniform and for their patriotism and commitment to democratic ideals in civilian life."

11/11/1993. Dedication of the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

11/11/1993. Responses to the dedication.

"The Angels of Vietnam," by Megan Rosenthal, Washington Post, 11/11/93: C1. "These guys literally thought we were angels of mercy. . . . They'd come out of anesthesia, and be lying there in clean white sheets and look up and probably hadn't seen an American woman for months. And there we were in white uniforms. They really did say they thought they'd died and gone to Heaven!" [FullText]

"Welcome Home, Nurses," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/11/93: 8B. "The Vietnam women's memorial is but a small gesture to the women who volunteered -- none was drafted. . . . For the women, who were trained to heal and to take care of others, learning to care for themselves and to heal their own psychological wounds has been one of the hardest tasks of their lives." [FullText]

Remembering Women Vets," (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, 11/11/93: B6. [FullText]

"20 Years Later -- Welcome Home," by Andrea Stone, USA Today, 11/11/93: 11A. "We couldn't shoot the guns and release our anger. We stuffed our emotions; we were professional stuffers." [FullText]

"A Vet's Day Gift to Servicewomen," (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, 11/11/93: 10B. "The women in bronze will finally be as close to their fallen comrades engraved in stone as they were in life." [FullText]

11/12/1993. Responses to the dedication.

"Coming Home," by James Kindall, Newsday, 11/12/93: 5. "'I was wounded over there [said a male veteran],' clapping on the sidewalk. He nodded to buddies yelling encouragement from the curb. 'We're proof they did their job.'" [FullText]

"25,000 Mark Opening of Vietnam Memorial for Female Veterans," Toronto Star, 11/12/93: A12. "U.S. Vice-President Al Gore spoke, Harry Connick, Jr. sang and honor guards marched at yesterday's dedication of a memorial to the American women who served in the Vietnam War. . . . . Gore, a Vietnam veteran, represented the administration and told the approving crowd of 'the pain and rage I felt when I came back' to an unappreciative America." [FullText]

"A Day of Tributes and Pleas," by Michael Kranish, Boston Globe, 11/12/93: 1. "Clinton, whose lack of military service in Vietnam was a contentious issue in the presidential election, sent Gore to the day's main event. . . .Many soldiers attended the ceremony as well, and some seemed relieved that Clinton did not appear and become the focus of controversy." [FullText]

"'Our Place for the Healing,'" by Cindy Loose, Washington Post, 11/12/93: A1. Nurse: "I couldn't afford to come here, but I just had to. I'm determined to cure myself today, to meet these women again, to come full circle and bring things to a close." Veteran soldier: "I felt the women's monument should be closer to the Wall, because these women were the last people those guys saw or talked to before they died." [FullText]

11/15/1993. Responses to the dedication.

"Another Vietnam Memorial," by Joseph Galloway, U.S. News & World Report, 11/15/93: 21. "Many of the 58,183 who died in Vietnam spent their final moments in the presence of those nurses. Few got the chance to say thank you to that kind, caring, exhausted face; among those who survived, when the shock and the morphine wore off 12,000 miles later, they remembered only the face and maybe the first name." [FullText]

11/25/1993. Responses to the dedication.

"Reunion at a Vietnam Memorial," by Sandy Ghormley, St, Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/25/93: 9C. "When a scream of joy erupted, you would see a spontaneous embrace of a man in camouflage uniform with a middle-aged woman wearing a floppy army hat covered with pins. He had found his nurse, his angel of mercy, his lifeline; and she had found out what happened to him, that he had survived." [FullText]

12/6/1993. Responses to the dedication.

"At Vietnam Women's Memorial," by Leslie Kinsey, (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, 12/06/93: E2. "Perhaps the commemorative monument will help the living finish grieving for the heroic women who served their country and gave their lives in Vietnam." [FullText]