Sometime during the evening hours of September 8th, 2007, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. was defaced with a petroleum based acid liquid. There needs to be better security for the memory of these 58,249 killed during the Democrat war in Vietnam.
Washing this off with a pressure washer is a futile task. Oil seeps into tiny pores and crevasses in the stone and even though it appears clean after pressure washing the oil in these pores will in time wick back up to the surface and it will look the same as before.
Lisa Gough, Director of Communications for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, who stated in her press release of Sept. 11, 2007: “The United States Park Police has begun an investigation into the matter, and that investigation is ongoing. Until this investigation is completed, it is premature to speculate whether any intentional act was committed.”
NPS put out a statement also yesterday:
http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070911/METRO/109110043/1004
….claiming they still didn’t know and were still investigating.
Also, NPS is misrepresenting the amount of damage. From that link, they state, “50 to 60 feet mostly on the paving stones”.
Also this……along the East Wall Panel 15E that it had multiple deep, long, vertical scratches/gouges.
Then there is this one in Andover…………………
Vietnam Veterans Memorial defaced
Andover Townsman
Many veterans in town were disappointed to learn last week that someone had vandalized the town’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial, requiring the 15-month-old memorial to be sandblasted Wednesday.
“We know that in no way does this reflect how the community feels about our veterans,” said Michael Burke, director of veteran services.
The lyrics of a 1970s protest song and a reference to Iraq were scrawled on the monument in the Park. “War, what is it good for, absolutely nothin’,” was written in red marker along with a peace sign.
The lyrics are from “War,” a song that Motown soul singer Edwin Starr popularized in 1970.
Near the base of the memorial where the phrase “our cause is just” is etched, a vandal wrote “just like in Iraq.”
The markings were made with some kind of felt marker, which soaked into the stone, Burke said yesterday. Methuen Monument is helping the town repair the memorial, which was dedicated May 29, 2006.
While there was no structural damage, “the stone does need to be sandblasted,” Burke said. He was not sure how much the work would cost, if anything, but said the town was grateful to the Methuen business for stepping in to help.
Police Lt. Harry Collins said the vandalism was under investigation.
Burke said this week he has talked to several veterans and longtime residents, and that no one could remember something like this happening in Andover.
“This is a disappointing event,” he said. “This is an anomaly. If someone does have opposition, there are other ways to vocalize that.”
In Haverhill earlier this summer, vandals ruined parts of a Korean War Memorial and spray-painted a World War II monument.
Wild Thing’s comment……..
All of this is very upsetting, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall needs to be protected much better then it is. Times have changed and no longer are Memorials of any kind safe. There should be more camera’s and better lighting at night. This is just horrible what people are capable of doing to the Vietnam Memorials. I can’t even write this without crying just from the anger I feel.
….Thank you Tom for the link to information about this.
Didn’t their mommies and daddies teach them NOT to do things like this? Just because you don’t like it, you don’t take away the enjoyment other people have–especially if they have a family member on the wall. Our hearts were broken before, don’t break them again.
It’s like spitting on someone’s grave.
These are memories–dreams of a child lost until we get to Heaven to see them again. They protected us, now it’s our turn to protect them.
… our nation is going to sh*t in a handbasket, and in our nation’s capital, the sh*t that walks the streets push the democratic buttons in the voting booths! And the supposed Capitol PD is a flippin joke big time! – Rent A Cops 2007
It’s a shame that here in America we have to provide security for the monuments that honor those who’ve died in wars to defend this nation. Whether a person agrees with the war or the reasons behind it is irreverent. What matters is those men and women who answered the call to fight for what their nations leaders believed was right.
A sad state of affairs. So many immigrants here that have no sense of loyalty. What is worse though are people born in America who have an animosity toward our country and now toward the monuments that represent America’s great heritage. My bet is that the people who did this were born into some sort of prosperity and have never suffered from want. Even if they were raised in a ghetto, they are better off than 90% of the World, and they still have unlimited chances for prosperity.
This could have been done by silly kids on a dare or by professional protesters. It certainly was no accident. If caught they will most likely face no more than a small fine. Some sort of public humiliation would be more appropriate.
It is very maddening, but more than that it is sad and disgraceful. It tears at the core of respect and patriotism that we need now to unite America in time of war and discontent.
“The United States Park Police has begun an investigation into the matter, and that investigation is ongoing. Until this investigation is completed, it is premature to speculate whether any intentional act was committed.”WTF, spontaneous oil dispersion???
B.S. This is just some more of that time honored respect we’ve gotten over the years.
Some 7 years ago I worked in a Nutraceutical facility making suppliments with a fellow that was the top pharmacist there, we’d get so ‘dirty’ with the ingredients that we’d have to shower before leaving work. This guy didn’t have much muscle mass on his scarred, gnarled legs and backside and he walked with a heavy limp. He was called the gimp behind his back by all the others at the plant, what they didn’t know was that he had survived stepping on a mine in Vietnam, he was lucky to be alive let alone walk. The callous disrespect for our veterans sickens me to the core, it still goes back to the upbringing and values being taught in the schools. But they are the protected ones, they have nothing invested in that big old socialist teat that they suckle.
There are more important things to fix than the wall.
I am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak. I believed another Vietnam could be avoided with defined missions and the best armaments in the world.
It made no difference.
We have bought into the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). If you would like to read how this happens please see:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/03/spyagency200703
Through a combination of public apathy and threats by the MIC we have let the SYSTEM get too large. It is now a SYSTEMIC problem and the SYSTEM is out of control. Government and industry are merging and that is very dangerous.
There is no conspiracy. The SYSTEM has gotten so big that those who make it up and run it day to day in industry and government simply are perpetuating their existance.
The politicians rely on them for details and recommendations because they cannot possibly grasp the nuances of the environment and the BIG SYSTEM.
So, the system has to go bust and then be re-scaled, fixed and re-designed to run efficiently and prudently, just like any other big machine that runs poorly or becomes obsolete or dangerous.
This situation will right itself through trauma. I see a government ENRON on the horizon, with an associated house cleaning.
The next president will come and go along with his appointees and politicos. The event to watch is the collapse of the MIC.
Back before the PC crowd and the ones who think it is a crime to protect personal property with violence let alone government property the public would have found and taken care of those who commit such sacrilege.
Oh and about that military industrial complex..without it there will be no freedom..
After the gathering of Eagles, it must have become evident to the Code-Pinkos that the Vietnam Memorial means a lot to us.
What Jack said about the Park Service not knowing for sure if this was an accident or intentional. Again the Government is a day late and a dollar short. Who walks around with an oil based substance in Washington, if not to damage some memorial. The gauges on the wall certainly look intentional. You don’t damage that kind of surface without some real effort.
The Cops should look first at Moveon.org and the rest of those gutless bastards.
We got spit on 40 years ago and it just happened again, and again by our own government. I have had it with this disrespect.
Larson:
This post isn’t about the relative importance of The Wall against the things you claim to be true about the DIC.
I’m a one-tour vet myself; most of the guys here, and certainly ladies like WT, are vets of the war too. You certainly know that the importance of the wall transcends its stone and inscriptions, and even the politics and defense policy that produced it. Damage to it isn’t nullified by your pet issue.
As far as I know, no one here transmutes the meaning of The Wall into general commentary on defense policy, or the techno-bureaucratic features of it either. Except you.
I never read links, because the poster who employs them either won’t, or cannot, speak for himself. Vanity Fair is hardly the last word on the matter you raised or anything else; maybe you are, since you were so heavily involved in it.
There’s generally no question among conservatives about the menace of government/business alliances, but you dropped a provocative first paragraph and quickly abandoned your presumed point.
Please make your case. If you want to discuss something, no more links. Wild Thing will permit the space.
I just found your blog, Larson. Rose Covered Glasses. The expression is Rose-COLORED Glasses, but never mind. More reasearch necessary to find out which axe you’re grinding.
I can’t imagine the pain this brings to the friends, comrades, and families of the men whose names that have been vandalized.
The lowest scum of the earth would intentionally destroy a memorial of any kind – certainly one to the men who fought in John F. Kennedy’s war in South Asia.
Oh – and about Larson up there. I wonder why every comment like that seems to start off with ‘I served two tours in (fill in the blank) war and ….’ then they go off on a tangent about whatever bone they have to pick with the country they supposedly served.
I have never heard a veteran of 30 plus years refer to the military as ‘Military Industrial Complex (MIC)’
Give us all a break and jump back down your rabbit hole.
Peace, man. :rolleyes:
Times are a little tough that is true,but its’ been far worse…MIC-Crap that’s all I will say
about that!!!As for the Wall I’m sure there is a
stone mason who would clean it for free out there
as for the scratches that will be hard but it can be done…The next thing is not to let it happen again…I for one am sick and tired of all the poor me crap I hear,we beat them on Immigration
reform and we can do it now on Iraq and most any
thing else that’s not true to form.E-mail, call
their state and DC office and don’t let up, call
and e-mail 2-3 times a week,let the clown’s get
to know your name…Its ours to lose…And don’t
forget Radical Islam is watching!!!
Rhod, excellant post. Glad you are on our side.
Rose covered Glasses eh ?
I Sgt. I knew, use to say, ‘Lookin at the world through rose colored glasses and everything is horseshit now.’ But that was after a bottle or two of Shiro Saki.
Lynn, that was beautiful and so true. Thank you so much.
Darth, that is about it, your right.
D.C. is so filled with crime, they need more cops, more protection for Memorials. And that would be just a start of what they need there.
To be our Capitol of our country it should have the best of the best and plenty of them too.
Bob, yes it is a total shame. America has set the standard over the years for so many things, helped so many, made a difference in this world like no other country has. And yet it is falling apart now from the inside and it breaks my heart.
Tom……..”It tears at the core of respect and patriotism that we need now to unite America in time of war and discontent.”…….I agree so much.
Jack, that gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. Your so right, that was so disrespectful to call him that. The way Veterans have been treated by many has been shamrful.
GUYK, thank you so much.
I never heard it called the “military industrial complex” before. And I grew up in a military family, I have known thousands of Veterans over the years and not once have I heard it referred to like that.
Hey Larson…. weren’t you the infamous ‘umbrella man’ in Dealey Plaza on 11-22-63? Too many Oliver Stone movies and you probably think the first moon walk was staged as well! JFK, RFK and MLK were all killed by Satan and Satan’s ilk – hate, sin and power. If you were in politics and your last name ended with a ‘K’, the sinful 60’s was a rough decade, eh?
Mark I agree, those kind of scratches do not just happen. And the oil spill too does not just happen either, not like that. It would have been a few drips of oil on the ground not splashes against the wall and on the step.
Rhod, thank you so much!!
Beth, LOL love your reply…”rabbit hole”….
Tincan Sailor, my emails will never stop about the illegals or any of the stuff I am ticked at. haha
I keep reminding them I am one of the “We the People” and just knew they wanted to know how I felt.
Darth, thanks, good one.
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