Smithsonian not living up to honoring all Native American Veterans?

Why won't the Smithsonian agree to honor all Native American veterans in its new memorial?

The Hill
BY COL. JAMES T. CURRIE, RETIRED, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
05/18/19

To be perfectly clear, individuals who serve in the USPHS and NOAA are veterans under federal law, entitled to all the rights and privileges thereof. They draw military pay and benefits, serve alongside their armed colleagues during our country’s wars, and are entitled to burial in Virginia cemeteries. They have served our country proudly for more than 100 years in NOAA’s case and for more than 125 years in the case of the USPHS.

The Smithsonian Institution is about make a huge mistake by creating a Native American Veterans Memorial that will omit certain Native American veterans.

The Smithsonian plans to construct this memorial on the National Mall, with groundbreaking scheduled for September 2019. It’s a wonderful idea — one that is long overdue.

Congress passed legislation in 1994 allowing the national monument to be built, and it took 24 years — until June 2018 — for the Smithsonian to agree to a memorial design. The design, which can be found on the Smithsonian website, consists of a series of concentric circles, which the Smithsonian says represent a “Warrior’s Circle of Honor.” The designer is Native American veteran Harvey Pratt, and it is a handsome design, indeed.

There is only one problem with it. It includes only the seals of the five armed forces, omitting the seals of both the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Veterans who earned their status by service in these two smallest of the seven federal uniformed services are understandably upset by this omission. We, meaning a non-profit organization that represents the officers in the USPHS, have called this omission to the Smithsonian’s attention, and our concerns have been summarily dismissed.

The reason offered by the Smithsonian reflects the narrowest possible interpretation of the 1994 law, which was clearly intended to honor all Native American veterans. In a letter to retired USPHS Rear Adm. George Blue Spruce, the first Native American dentist in our country’s history, Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton explained his reasoning: “The enabling legislation ... only references ‘Armed Forces.'

In September 2018, 26 member organizations of The Military Coalition, a group headquartered in Alexandria, Va., sent a letter to congressional leadership. The organizations whose signatures are on the letter represent all five of the armed forces, and also include the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The letter cites the words of then-Rep. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), principal House sponsor of the 1994 law, who closed his remarks on the floor of the House when he introduced HR 2135, “with the hope that all our colleagues will join us in honoring our Native American veterans.”
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THE WALL 25 YEARS LATER STILL THEY WEEP

From the Smithsonian Channel


(Note, this post is a dual post on both blogs)



Introduction From the National Parks Service

Deliberately setting aside the controversies of the war, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors the men and women who served when their Nation called upon them. The designer, Maya Lin, felt that “the politics had eclipsed the veterans, their service and their lives.” She kept the design elegantly simple to “allow everyone to respond and remember.”

http://www.nps.gov/vive/

If any of your readers want to share their own stories about Veterans Day they can join the Smithsonian Channel Community ‘www.smithsonianchannelcommunity.com’ where we have set up a special ‘Veterans Day Tribute’ group where anyone can contribute blog posts about what Veterans Day means to them. Here we are also featuring content from Veterans such as the Deputy Director of the Air and Space Museum, and WWII Fighter Ace, Don Lopez.

REMEMBERING VIETNAM: THE WALL AT 25 Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25 goes back in time to tell the story of the memorial through the eyes of those who conceived it, those who were instrumental in pushing it through bureaucratic and political resistance, those intimately involved with its 25-year history, and those it honors. Above all, the documentary tells the story of a place that is more than a memorial – it is a place where old wounds are healed.

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/show_remember_vietnam.do

'Remembering Vietnam - The Wall at 25,' Original Smithsonian Channel(TM)

Documentary, to be Streamed on Smithsonian Channel Website on Veterans Day (Sunday, Nov. 11)
NEW YORK, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- "Remembering Vietnam - The Wall at
25" - - an original documentary about the history of the famous monument in
Washington, D.C. -- will be streamed on http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/ the
Smithsonian Channel website, concurrent with its premiere on Veterans Day,
Sunday, Nov. 11 at 8 pm and 11 pm ET/PT.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund founder and president Jan Scruggs calls
it "the best documentary film about the wall I've ever seen."
"We felt this documentary was so powerful that we wanted to make it
possible for this moving and important program to be seen by all Americans
as we honor the soldiers who have fought for our country this Veterans
Day," said Tom Hayden, General Manager, Smithsonian Networks.
The one-hour documentary is produced by filmmaker Lynn Kessler, and is
part of a package of original programs to be shown in honor of Veterans Day
beginning Friday, November 9 and continuing through Sunday, November 11.
Smithsonian Channel is currently available on DIRECTV's Channel 267.

ABOUT SMITHSONIAN NETWORKS:
Smithsonian Networks (SN) is a joint venture between Showtime Networks
Inc. and the Smithsonian Institution. It was formed to create new channels
that will showcase scientific, cultural and historical programming largely
inspired by the assets of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest
museum complex. The networks will feature original documentaries, short-
subject explorations and innovative and groundbreaking programs
highlighting America's historical, cultural and scientific heritage. Visit
them on the internet at http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/

This is in eyes of all who stand by the Wall. The reflection is not of today, but of all the yesterdays, of lives gone long ago and of the living with the ghosts of memories. The Wall makes no statement of politics or of right and wrong, but of the lives lost to war. The Wall cannot heal bodies, nor restore the dead to life, but it does heal the soul and arise the memories of who has gone from this earth. A granddaughter views the name of a grandparent she never met. A wife, long ago remarried touches the stone and wonders what could have been. Children see the name as a chill runs through them and some say the spirit of their parent is still found there in the Wall. Above all who walk the path from end to end are the veterans.

Some went willingly because they were asked. Some were forced to go. As the saying goes from Vietnam veterans "All gave some, some gave all" when it was there time to serve. It didn't matter if they wanted to be there or were forced to be there, they served side by side and what mattered the most was each other. They followed their orders equally, bravely and went through things they would have never thought they could have survived. Some still fight the battles to this very day. They say that if all the deaths connected to the Vietnam war were recorded, they would need two or three more walls to fit in all the names. There are names of those who perished from Agent Orange and from wounds of their bodies and minds. Some had their lives taken from them while others committed suicide. All gave some.

The Wall may not have all the names of all the fallen from Vietnam. We may never know all their stories but each one visiting the Wall holds someone in their heart. It may not be a name of someone they knew. It may not be a name recorded on the Wall at all, but it is written in their heart.

The Wall heals souls and in turn managed to begin the healing of this nation. Watch the video above and then plan on watching the documentary. See if we can find that same kind of compassion and passion behind the building of the Wall to do the same for this generation in harms way today. Then thank a Vietnam vet because had it not been for them coming back, fighting for all veterans, we would not have come as far as we are today to eliminating the stigma of PTSD. We have a lot further to go, but the Vietnam veterans paved the way. They are still reaching out their hands to each other and to all other veterans. To me, they will always be the greatest generation because they did not forget those who came after them.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."

- George Washington