New controversy surrounds Vietnam memorial

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Thousands of veterans, friends and family from around the country came to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington on Nov. 10. Plans to build a visitors center are rekindling some of the controversy that surrounded the 1982 building of the Wall.


New controversy surrounds Vietnam memorial
By Andrea Stone - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Nov 12, 2007 21:36:01 EST

WASHINGTON — Jan Scruggs stretches his arms toward the Vietnam Veterans Memorial he imagined and made real 25 years ago. As the names on the wall are read aloud in the distance, he stands on the spot where he plans an underground visitors center as one last tribute to the war’s dead.

“This is where the entrance will be,” says Scruggs, his back to the nearby Lincoln Memorial. Pointing to a gift shop kiosk nearby, he says, “This is not a historic vista.”

That’s not how preservationists see it. Like the divisive Vietnam War and the unconventional design of the monument to it, the center is opposed by critics who fear it will mar the already crowded National Mall and overshadow the memorial itself.

As thousands gathered Sunday for Veterans Day, though, the controversy seemed a faint echo compared with the furor that preceded the wall’s dedication on Nov. 13, 1982. The design by Yale student Maya Lin was below ground, black and unlike any war memorial before it. Vietnam vet Tom Carhart called it “a black gash of shame.”

Over time, though, the memorial became a place for healing that 4.4 million people visit each year.

Pressure prompted a series of additions to the site. A flag pole. Statues of soldiers on patrol. A tribute to female veterans. A plaque honoring those who died after the war as a result of injuries suffered in it.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/gns_vietnammemorial_071113/