Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 Lasting Resonance: The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial's Influence on Two Northern Florida Veterans Memorials Jessamyn Daniel Boyd Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES LASTING RESONANCE: THE NATIONAL VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL’S INFLUENCE ON TWO NORTHERN FLORIDA VETERANS MEMORIALS By Jessamyn Daniel Boyd A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2007 The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Jessamyn Daniel Boyd’s defended on March 26, 2007. ______________________ Jen Koslow Professor Direction Thesis ______________________ Michael Creswell Committee Member ______________________ James P. Jones Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the course of writing this thesis, I have become indebted to a few people, who provided their help, guidance, and support to make this possible. I have been fortunate to have a wonderful committee that willfully guided me through this writing process. Professor Koslow offered her time to help me sound off ideas, and her assistance to help me when I thought I would not be able to find certain records. Dr. Creswell also aided me in researching this project. His knowledge on the time period and generous editorial assistance was much appreciated. These two professors provided valuable insight and much appreciated support. Dr. James P. Jones, throughout my career at Florida State University, has been a guiding force, providing a wealth of knowledge and infinite support. I appreciate your time and assistance throughout this process. The archivists at The State Library and Archives of Florida and the staff at Legislative Services, Clerk of Courts, in Jacksonville, as well as the Florida Department of Veteran’s Affairs, were generous and kind in their assistance. Their timely responses and dedication to their work made my efforts that more pleasurable and encouraging. Lastly, my parents have given me the greatest support. My mother was always there to answer late night phone calls, listen to me read sections over the phone, and provide her criticisms and reactions. My father was supportive and loving, even when I may have been frustrated and exhausted. Their grace, love, and interest in everything I do are the foundations of this work, and all other works that I will ever do. Such support has been much appreciated. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………... v Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………. vi INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………… 1 THE NATIONAL VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL ………………………. 9 FLORIDA’S VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL: TALLAHASSEE ……....... 25 JACKSONVILLE’S VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL: A CITY’S NOBLE TRIBUTE…………..…………………………………………...………….. 43 CONCLUSIONS …………………………………………………………………... 63 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………….. 67 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ………………………………………………………. 70 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1. Maya Lin,Vietnam Veterans Memorial,1982, Black granite, each wall: 246 feet long, 10 1/2 feet high, Washington, D.C., © the National Park Service. …………… 8 2. 2 images. The images are from the drawings for Maya Lin’s entry into the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Design Competition. From: Lin, Maya Ying. Boundaries. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. ………….. 19 3. Drawing by James Kolb, submitted to the Commission on Veterans’ Affairs. Scanned image from original, 2006. ……………. 31 4. Vietnam Memorial Dedication, Tallahassee, FL, 1985. Photonegative: b&w ; 3 x 5 in. Date/place captured: Photographed on November 11, 1985. Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida. ………… 35 5. Designs submitted by Traylor/Wolfe Architectural Firm. Scanned from copy placed with Jacksonville City Ordinance 95-395-60, 2007. …………...... 53-4 6. Current Map of Jacksonville City Council Districts. Note: similar to those of 1994- 1995. …………....56 7. Present Day Image of the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall. © Ruthie Deen, 2007. ……………60 v ABSTRACT When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund adopted Maya Lin’s design proposal in 1981, the veterans’ non-profit organization and the young architect had no idea that the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial would ultimately change the perspective on traditional war memorials. From Lin’s design, a new tradition would arise placing the focal point of these memorials on the individual’s sacrifice and the names of the dead for proper commemoration. Today, when we reflect upon the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, many of us embrace its unique and lasting response to personal tragedy during the Vietnam War. As states and local communities began to reflect upon war and propose monuments and memorials following the national memorial’s dedication in 1982, their decisions were ultimately affected by this new approach to traditional remembrance. This work focuses on two cities in northern Florida, Tallahassee and Jacksonville. These two communities responded to Lin’s new approach while maintaining their own unique points of view. The memorial to be placed in Tallahassee would represent the state’s commemoration of its Vietnam War veterans, while the Jacksonville memorial would honor all the city’s veterans of 20th century military conflicts. This work examines the political and cultural effects of the national memorial on the two cities. The impact of Lin’s new focal point had parlayed itself from national, to state, to local levels. Thus, the Florida Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall were able to advance the idea of the traditional war memorial through the underlying influence of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial. vi INTRODUCTION When Maya Ying Lin designed a Vietnam War memorial for her funerary architecture course at Yale University in the spring of 1981, she had no idea that it would change the traditional perspective on national war memorials. As she wrote in an essay following the completion of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial that was later published in her book Boundaries, “I wanted to create a memorial that everyone would be able to respond to, regardless of whether one thought our country should or should not have participated in the war.”1 When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund adopted Lin’s design proposal in 1981, Lin’s memorial set a new tradition for war memorials: the individual names of the dead would serve as the focal point for the commemoration. Lin argued that “these names, seemingly infinite in number, convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while unifying those individuals into a whole.”2 Thus, through her artistic representation she attempted to respect individuality while at the same time evoke a sense of collective response. While Lin purposely crafted an ambiguous structure, its interpretation as seen through the expressions found in northern Florida memorials is less certain. Although it may not have been her original intention, her design for the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial enhances and embraces the importance of personal sacrifice for the nation. Today, when we reflect upon the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, many of us embrace the memorial as a unique and lasting response to personal tragedy during the Vietnam War. In 1982, its dedication had an impact throughout the nation, from inspiring candlelight vigils to motorcycle rides to veterans’ parades. America appeared to finally properly honor its Vietnam War veterans. Even if the public may not have understood or trusted the military decisions of its federal government during the war, by the time of the dedication of the national monument a consensus to honor and remember Vietnam veterans had emerged. This focus on the individual appears to have unified a nation following a time of controversy. However, Lin’s attempt to unify without playing to political whims had 1Maya Lin, Boundaries (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 4:09. 2 Lin, 4:05. 1 controversies of its own. Lin’s focus on individual names pushed the controversy of the memorial beyond that of spokesman for the war and the war dead toward the dead veterans themselves. The American public may not have been ready to confront the nation’s war dead so personally. True, there were tombs to the unknown soldiers of World Wars I and II, but these memorials remained impersonal, having the individual represent the whole by remaining nameless. Historiography: 20th Century American Public Memory and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Historians must reexamine the concept and the meaning of a war memorial when the public perspective towards the event is challenging and oftentimes mixed. Shortly after the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated and established in public memory, historians began to delve into the symbolism and meaning in the memorial and its reflection on the Vietnam War and the American public. These works on Vietnam War commemoration have typically focused on the architectural style and symbolic representation of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. In her essay “A ‘black gash shame’ or ‘The wings of an abstract bird’?,” Joanna Price discussed “how the negotiation over meaning which has marked the production, signification and reception of the memorial [was] also