There is a lot of talk about how divided the country is today. The same was true during the Vietnam era.
One of the great tragedies of that era was that those who did not agree with U.S. policy did not limit their criticism to their elected leaders. They also vented their animus and anger at the young men (there were few women serving in those years) who were wearing the uniform of the United States of America. Those that served did not get recognized and praised. They were often berated and maligned for their service.
Despite the political divisions of today I am thankful that we have moved past that dark period of American history and the men and women who serve in our military are honored irrespective of our political views.
50 years ago---in 1968---was the point at which popular opinion on the Vietnam War began to turn. More and more people questioned what we were achieving for the blood and treasure we were sacrificing in those rice paddies on the other side of the world. 1968 marked the year in which deaths reached their highest levels in the war.
58,220 (58,212 male, 8 female) gave their life in the Vietnam War. 16,899 of those were in 1968.
Here is a listing of deaths by year in the years 1964-1972 of that conflict to provide some perspective of how significant those numbers were in the war and the effect it had on public opinion.
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| Vietnam War U.S Military Fatal Casualties Credit: National Archives, Military Records |
They came from all branches of the service.
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| Credit: National Archives, Military Records |
And all races. Bullets and bombs do not discriminate.
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| Credit: National Archives, Military Records |
Also consider their ages.
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| Credit: MilitaryFactory.com |
A lot of lives not lived. Parents who lost their child. Children who lost a parent. Spouses who lost their partner. Most never even got the chance to marry. Or have a child. How much potential and promise was left on that battleground?
For context, consider that there have been a total of 6,713 deaths in the combined Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts since 2001.
On this Memorial Day, 50 years removed from 1968, it seems appropriate to specifically remember the sacrifices of these soldiers as well as the others that served in Vietnam but never got the recognition and respect they deserved.
There are many magnificent places to visit in Washington, DC but nothing is more powerful and sobering than the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial (VVM).
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| Credit: Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Fund |
For those of you who are younger, you probably have no idea of the controversy that was created when the design for the VVM was originally announced. The design for the memorial was chosen from entries in a national contest. Maya Lin, an architecture student at Yale who was only 21 years old, won the competition. Lin always believed that her design would never have been selected but for the fact that it was a blind competition. However, controversy soon followed. This is how Wikipedia describes the opposition to the design.
The selected design was very controversial, in particular its unconventional design, its black color and its lack of ornamentation. Some public officials voiced their displeasure, calling the wall "a black gash of shame." Two prominent early supporters of the project, H. Ross Perot and James Webb, withdrew their support once they saw the design. Said Webb, “I never in my wildest dreams imagined such a nihilistic slab of stone.” James Watt, Secretary of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan, initially refused to issue a building permit for the memorial due to the public outcry about the design. Since its early years, criticism of the Memorial's design faded. In the words of Scruggs, "It has become something of a shrine."
Lin was an iconoclast. To that point, memorials were statues. They were not long stone walls that blended into the earth with 58,220 names etched into the stone. However, when it was completed, the VVM captured the very essence of what a memorial should really be about.
Read this article from Biography.com. for more background on the remarkable story of Maya Lin and the original controversy about the VVM. A fun fact I did not know is that Lin received a "B" on the design when she submitted it for a seminar on funereal architecture at Yale. Interestingly, the professor who gave her that grade was one of another 1,400 who submitted a design and was bested by Lin in the design competition.
I do not believe anyone has captured the magnificence of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial better than photographer Angela Pan.
Her images are a wonderful way in which to reflect on the sacrifices of those who served in Vietnam on this 2018 Memorial Day.
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| Credit: Angela Pan |
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| Credit: Angela Pan |
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| Credit: Angela Pan |
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| Credit: Angela Pan |
Thank you to all of those who served and sacrificed in Vietnam.
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