Most schoolchildren are taught that civil protest is the bedrock of democracy. And when peaceful persuasion fails, there are always the courts to weigh the arguments and pass final judgment.
Well not always.
When the National Coalition to Save Our Mall challenged the way the chosen site for the WWII Memorial was improperly moved from Constitution Gardens to the Lincoln Memorial grounds, and the violation of four other laws, Congress passed legislation to nullify the suit and President Bush signed the outrage into law on Memorial Day 2001.
And that should have been that.
We fight because democracy is all we’ve got. Sooner or later, the truth about the way corners were cut and laws were broken with impunity to hijack the Mall will come out.
We fight because even a memorial honoring the GIs of WWII isn’t as important as the values that make the Mall America’s Freedom Walk.
We fight because this star-spangled pile of rocks has been ridiculed by editorial and architectural critics all over the world. The sponsors know it. They just aren’t brave enough to admit it.
We fight because we’ve got an untold story to tell and we mean to tell it. Fact by fact. Outrage by outrage.
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
“They” are the Memorial sponsor, the American Battle Monuments Commission. |
“We” are the National Coalition to Save Our Mall. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
The WWII Memorial won’t block the Mall or impede public uses. |
The Memorial’s football-field size sunken plaza is a cul-de-sac and will force pedestrians to walk off into the trees around the sides of the Memorial. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
It won’t block vistas. |
Instead of current views of the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and rest of the Mall, visitors to the Memorial will see high walls, pillars, and 4-story high arches. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
This part of the Mall was not part of the Civil Rights March of 1963. |
Marchers passed through this spot and assembled here to witness MLKing., Jr. give his “I Have a Dream” speech from the Lincoln Memorial’s steps. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
The money collected is only for the Memorial and its maintenance. |
The Memorial’s total cost is $58 million but they have already collected $180 and are still soliciting. They have rejected using the extra money for a museum. Excess money will be lost – in a private fund – with no public scrutiny of where it may end up. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
Construction won’t harm the public. |
The ABMC’s consultants found arsenic and other contaminants in the soil and groundwater at the Rainbow Pool, water that will be pumped directly into the Tidal Basin. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
Construction won’t adversely affect the surrounding area. |
It could cause the Washington Monument to fall over or be seriously damaged. The Memorial requires deep excavations and continuous pumping of groundwater that will aggravate the alarming problem engineers discovered in 1973 and 1984 -- that the Monument had settled due to a recent 12-foot drop in the water table. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
Memorial opponents have a “political agenda”. |
That’s a PR fabrication. We are WWII veterans, historians, architects, and concerned citizens from across the country. Our goal is simply to “Save Our Mall” from an illegal and undemocratic land-grab and push for a LAWFUL WWII Memorial that truly honors the veterans and the entire Nation. We represent Americans from left to right in the political spectrum. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
The Memorial represents the sacrifice, honor, of veterans and the Nation. |
Its design is a battle cemetery; it uses wreath-hung pillars and triumphal arches reminiscent of Nazi architecture; and it will be built by a contractor whose parent company, the German Philip Holzmann A.G., used slave labor during WWII and in 2000 pleaded guilty “to participating in a criminal conspiracy to rig bids on a USAID-funded construction contract.” They paid our government over $30 million in fines. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
We need to build now because 1100 veterans are dying a day |
The Memorial would be built much faster, cheaper, and safer if it were moved back to the original location at Constitution Gardens nearby on the Mall |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
The Mall was properly chosen after 22 public hearings and is the only site good enough for the WWII Memorial. |
The site was hijacked. It is part of the Lincoln Memorial grounds and isn’t available for another memorial. Not even a WWII Memorial. Besides, those “22 public hearings” had very little to do with decision-making. The real decisions – moving the site from Constitution Gardens, for example – were made behind closed doors and sprung on the public unannounced. The original site is actually much better. See for yourself. Make up your own mind. |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
Congress has spoken, the Memorial will be built. |
Congress “blessed” an undemocratic and illegal process – and silenced the public and the courts against any possible future Court action -- by passing legislation (Public Law 107-11) to expedite the Memorial “notwithstanding any other provision of law.” The Supreme Court will decide if that is Constitutional, or if this will become “the perfect crime.” |
THEY SAY |
WE SAY |
We’re against a WWII Memorial. |
Not true! We see this as a lost opportunity to do it right. What do they really want? The Park Service only wanted to restore the Rainbow Pool; the Memorial will destroy it and then rebuild it 7 feet below grade, at no expense to the Park Service. The Commission of Fine Arts only wanted to protect Constitution Gardens from the WWII Memorial. The American Battle Monuments Commission at only wanted to grab the most prominent spot for its new battle monument.
In short, the Mall was hijacked, laws were broken, and when vigilant citizens caught the perpetrators and filed suit, Congress changed the rules. All in the name of WWII sacrifice and national unity. It’s an outrage.
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