School: Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School

Historical Question:
Does the original Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial design by Maya Lin accurately represent American’s collective memory of the Vietnam war?

Author: Jennifer Place

School: Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School

District: ACES

Overview:

The memorials we create represent our collective memory of an event. What happens, however, when there are opposing memories of the event? Which memory should be honored in the memorial? The Vietnam conflict was very controversial and many Americans were opposed to the war, some even protested. Due to the controversy, veterans were not given a hero’s welcome upon returning home. Years later Jan Scruggs was instrumental in obtaining permission to build a memorial. A contest was held to find a design for the memorial. The design for the memorial resulted in further controversy because some veterans felt that the design was offensive and did not represent their collective memory.

Document 1 is a letter written by James, a man who had submitted an entry in the Vietnam Veterans’ memorial design competition. His entry was not chosen. He was very unhappy with Maya Lin’s winning design. He lists the reasons in his letter: the design did not meet design criteria, it is not safe, finding names of soldiers will be very difficult, and the design does not honor the soldiers who served in Vietnam. This document supports a ‘no’ response.

Document 2 is a letter written by Hideo Sasaki, one of the competition jury members. He is writing to Jan Scruggs, the man responsible for organizing efforts to build a memorial and is discussing the possibility of changes to the memorial. This is important because there was strong opposition to Maya Lin’s original design and some sources claimed that the design was unanimously approved by the jury. This letter indicates that changes to the original might be acceptable and were considered from the start. This document supports both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ responses.

Document 3 describes two opposing views of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall. The article includes quotes from the designer Maya Lin explaining what her intentions were and quotes from veterans that interpreted her vision as insulting. This document highlights the different collective memories, based upon where and how you experienced the war. This document supports both a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ response.

Document 4 is an article written by a Vietnam veteran who opposed the original design for the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial. The author explains why many veterans were opposed to the design. Another important point he makes is that no members of the jury were veterans. This document supports a ‘no’ response.

Document 5 discusses the color and reflectiveness of the memorial wall, two elements of the original design that caused great controversy. The author argues that many people find the color black appropriate to honor the fallen soldiers. The reflectiveness connects the viewer’s face with the names of the soldiers and in places, the Washington Monument. This document supports a ‘yes’ response.

Document 6 shows that Maya Lin’s design emphasizes and honors each and every one of the individuals listed. The author argues that because the design departs from traditional war memorials, each visitor, for or against the war, is free to experience it in a unique and personal way. This document can be used to support a ‘yes’ response.

Procedure (80 minutes):

1.  Introduction of lesson, objectives, overview of SAC procedure (15 minutes)

2.  SAC group assignments (30 minutes)

a.  Assign groups of four and assign arguments to each team of two.

b.  In each group, teams read and examine the Document Packet

c.  Each student completes the Preparation part of the Capture Sheet (#2), and works with their partner to prepare their argument using supporting evidence.

d.  Students should summarize your argument in #3.

3.  Position Presentation (10 minutes)

a.  Team 1 presents their position using supporting evidence recorded and summarized on the Preparation part of the Capture Sheet (#2 & #3) on the Preparation matrix. Team 2 records Team 1’s argument in #4.

b.  Team 2 restates Team 1’s position to their satisfaction.

c.  Team 2 asks clarifying questions and records Team 1’s answers.

d.  Team 2 presents their position using supporting evidence recorded and summarized on the Preparation part of the Capture Sheet (#2 & #3) on the Preparation matrix. Team 1 records Team 2’s argument in #4.

e.  Team 1 restates Team 2’s position to their satisfaction.

f.  Team 1 asks clarifying questions and records Team 2’s answers.

4.  Consensus Building (10 minutes)

a.  Team 1 and 2 put their roles aside.

b.  Teams discuss ideas that have been presented, and figure out where they can agree or where they have differences about the historical question

5.  Closing the lesson (15 minutes)

a.  Whole-group Discussion

b.  Make connection to unit

c.  Assessment (suggested writing activity addressing the question)

DOCUMENT PACKET: Each of these primary source documents has been adapted and modified for fifth grade student use.

Document 1

When Maya Lin’s design was chosen for the Vietnam Memorial, some people, including other competitors, objected. This letter and indictment were written by James, whose design did not win the competition.

March 2, 1982
Palmyra, N.J.
Dear Sir:
I have read recently that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund has had their ground-breaking delayed for a review of their design.
As a competitor in this program – who felt the
original design chosen was vastly inappropriate – May I bring to your attention the indictment which I have circulated to various interested parties – please consider the particulars in your review.
Sincerely,
James
A MOST FORGETTABLE MEMORIAL
ITEM 1 – PROCEDURAL DEFAULT
A.  The selection of Ms. Lin’s design was suspect from the onset. The thousand entries I saw featured the required site plans – such as scope, size, topography, elevation and scale. Ms. Lin’s sketch should have been eliminated because it did not feature the required site plans.
B.  When choosing a winner, the Jury failed to select one that “honored . . .those who SERVED and died and to provide a symbol of acknowledgement of . . . courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty.”
ITEM 2 – TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
A.  The selected design is in many areas plainly impractical. The program requirement states: “The memorial should be accessible in all seasons and at all hours . . . no barriers . . . for the handicapped the design should impose no hazards.” This design has a blind approach from the north. Its grassy slope would be dangerous in times of wetness or winter icing. The walls present an attractive hazard to playing children. The required fencing would limit access, and Ms. Lin’s “grassy slope” would require paving for wheelchair access.
B.  The proposed listing of names in order of demise would make it most unlikely that a visitor could succeed in finding a particular name (this violates another stated requirement.)
ITEM 3 – “CONTENT” AND ARTISTIC MERIT
A.  Ms. Lin might be forgiven for not knowing that a memorial must have meaning beyond bulldozer burial and the inevitability of death. A memorial, past body counts must celebrate the qualities of spirit: courage, sacrifice and enduring hope.
Either way: THIS ABYSS IS A MONUMENTAL FAILURE
THIS MONUMENT IS AN ABYSMAL FAILURE
Vocabulary
demise: death
indictment: accusation of wrongdoing
Source: http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/files/round3/8.pdf

Document 2

Headnote…This letter was written by one of the members of the jury that chose the design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The letter is in response to Jan Scruggs, the man who wanted the memorial built and who organized the design contest. At first he is discussing the addition of a traditional sculpture featuring soldiers. Later he hints that the choice for the original design was not quite as unanimous as others said.

1570 Olympus Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94708
October 6, 1982
Mr. Jan C. Scruggs, President
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
1110 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Suite 308
Washington, D.C. 20005
Dear Jan:
Obviously because I have not seen the proposed sculpture nor its relation to the memorial wall, I cannot express an opinion as to its design or artistic merits. Moreover, it is the job of the Fine Arts Commission members to decide this question rather than mine.
I would like to note, however, that in a competition a jury may select a winning design, not because it is so perfect that it cannot be improved, but because it is the best of the lot. I remember at least several jury members, when evaluating the winning entry, expressing how the design should be modified to be suitable for public use. The matter of public safety as one approached the wall from the upper side was one question.
Thus, it is not certain that the design by Ms. Lin need be ruined by the changes which may be required by technical needs.
As I understand it from verbal descriptions given to me, the proposed sculptural group of soldiers by Mr. Hart is not near the wall, but is placed at some distance and in opposition to it. Often works of other artists, if sensitively done, enhance the totality of a design. I hope this is true.
Sincerely yours,
Hideo Sasaki
Vocabulary:
merits: qualities
totality: completeness
Source:
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Document 3

CULTURE SHOCK VISUAL ARTS:
Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial 1980’s
In 1979, Congress grants a Vietnam War veterans’ committee the right to build a memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C., dedicated to American soldiers killed in the Vietnam war. The committee holds a contest and gathers a blue-ribbon panel of architects, sculptors, and landscape architects to evaluate more than 1,400 entries. When the winner is announced, no one is more surprised than the student architect herself, Maya Lin, a 20-year-old student at Yale. The panel is impressed by the simplicity, honesty and power of Lin’s design: a V-shaped, sunken wall of black stone, with the names of those killed in action engraved in chronological order.
To search out a loved one, a mourner will walk along the monument and find the name among the 57,661 listed. Lin describes the Memorial thus: “I went to see the site. I had a general idea that I wanted to describe a journey…a journey that would make you experience death and where you’d have to be an observer, where you could never really fully be with the dead. It wasn’t going to be something that was going to say, “It’s all right, it’s all over,’ because it’s not.”
Lin is young, a woman, and Asian-American, and her design lacks the realistic statuary of most war memorials. From the moment the design is publicized, a small group within the Vietnam Veterans’ community feels Lin’s design is an insult. One opponent comments, “One needs no artistic education to see this memorial design for what it is: a black scar, in a hole, hidden as if out of shame.”
DOCUMENT 3 continued
The protestors wanted to change the color of the wall to white and to add an eight-foot-high sculpture of wounded soldiers and a flag in a central position at the wall.
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which has the final say over the design, listens to arguments for and against Lin’s wall. The commission finds a compromise. The wall will remain black, but it will include the statue and flag – not at the center, but off to the side.
The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial is dedicated on Veterans’ Day, 1982. There is praise for Lin’s design. The statue and flag are installed two years later, and in 1993, a second statue honoring women who served in Vietnam goes in alongside it. The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial is now the most widely visited monument in Washington, D.C. Lin continues to work successfully as a sculptor and designer in the U.S.
Vocabulary
engraved: carved into stone
Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/thewall.html

Document 4

Many Veterans did not approve of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial design. Tom Carhart is a lawyer now working for the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C. He earned two Purple Hearts as an Infantry Platoon Leader with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam.

Excerpts from: COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS OF VIETNAM
by
Tom Carhart
Several years ago, Congress authorized the construction of a Memorial on the mall in Washington, D.C. “in honor and recognition of the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Vietnam war.” While some members of the artistic community praised the winning design as a thing of beauty, many of us Vietnam veterans felt it was nothing but a shameful black ditch. The jury that selected this design was made up of eight artists, none of whom were Vietnam veterans. Their choice of a black underground wall may be appropriate to their personal memories of the political war they lived through in this country, but what does it say about our soldier’s faithful service in Vietnam?
Nowhere are the negative feelings some Americans still have about our Vietnam experience more bluntly apparent than in the design chosen for this Memorial: it generated a storm of controversy among Vietnam veterans and others that threatened to destroy even the possibility of any Memorial. The major concern we felt was that the design chosen for this Memorial was supposed to honor Vietnam veterans, but instead seemed to be making some sort of apology for us to the world – and it was being made by a jury that included no veterans. Several lengthy compromise meetings were then held, and while they provided the opportunity for a lot of hot emotion and frustration to be expressed among Vietnam veterans, their content will remain behind closed doors. The outcome was that V.V.M.F. agreed to improve the design with the addition of a strongly worded inscription, an American flag on a fifty foot pole at the point of the V, and a statue of three infantrymen, poised for battle within the V.
Our statue is of three soldiers standing together, one black, two white, but all cast in bronze that will soon be the color of the fatigues we wore. All are festooned with the weapons that defined our role. And, most important, they all wear the smooth, innocent young faces of the nineteen year old American soldiers who, in the tradition of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, offered their lives for their country in Vietnam. They are all staring at the flag, so that the lines sight in the Memorial will run from them to Old Glory and back. The black wall will become only a backdrop to this powerful statement of what we were then, what we will always remain.
Vocabulary
fatigues: army uniforms
festooned: decorated
Source: http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/vietnam/files/round4/carhartfirstdraft.pdf

Document 5