Photo Credit/John Wilson ksvac.info
In a July 15th , Wichita Eagle story by Brent Wistrom , Vice-Mayor Jim Skelton is noted as saying he felt "there's a lot of disrespect going around". A less then subtle reference to the fact that many veterans in the area are opposed to a memorial to South Vietnamese soldiers being erected in Veterans Memorial Park. Mr. Skelton, a veteran himself who served in Germany during peace time seems put out that veterans who risked their lives in actual combat might have a different opinion than his.
Mr. Skelton and fellow council person Janet Miller are just about beside themselves right now because a politically correct plan to pander to their favored minority literally blew up with backlash from actual Veterans who served in that war and want Veterans Park reserved for American Veterans.
As has been written in previous columns, this has been an emotional and contentious issue for both sides. Back in June when Mayor Carl Brewer asked both sides to meet among themselves and try for compromise we all breathed a sigh of relief. (A dose of reason in the wake of insanity.) But Janet Miller scuttled that by suggesting to the Vietnamese community that such a meeting might not be "legal" and compromise be damned.
Thankfully Miller's and Skelton's mindset is not shared by all and the two sides were able to meet this past Wednesday in City Manager Robert Layton's office for the sole purpose of working out a compromise. It appears as of this writing that such may in fact be at hand. (It should be noted that according to a person in the meeting that without Skelton and Miller stirring things up, City Manager Layton and Director of Parks and Recreation Doug Kupper were nothing but professional and respectful to the vets, the meeting was well run and all parties met in good faith.)
From the outset, the main objection by veterans was the prominent placement of a memorial to foreign troops in the middle of a park that (at least to date) had been reserved for American veterans. A compromise proposal has the new memorial on adjacent property to the north, visually separated by an earthen burm, and physically separated with a separate entrance.
John Wilson and the Kansas Veterans Action Committee has been spreading the word and soliciting input from fellow veterans concerning the terms and has scheduled a meeting for 1pm this Sunday, July 19th at the American Legion Post 136 in Mulvane for anyone interested in discussing the issue in person. City manager Robert Layton has asked for an answer by Monday, July 20th. If a consensus cannot be reached the issue will be turned back to the full City Council at their July 21st meeting.
To read the full proposal follow:
Proposed Compromise
An aerial map of the placements can be viewed here:
Aerial Map
And the city site regarding Veterans Memorial Park:
City of Wichita - Veterans Memorial Park
Comments
Why should we build a memorial to the Vietnamese Veterans? You wont find one to American Vets anywhere in Nam, or anywhere else for that matter, except for the cemetaries where our brave men were buried, sacrificing their lives for an ungrateful world. Why should we build a monument to losers? When we left, all the South Vietnamese had to do was defend their land and they didnt do that, most cut and ran.
We, the American military won that war, inspite of the obstructions by our own government, and the corruption of the South Vietnamese Government as well. How about building a monument to the losers in Washington, DC, the elected officials that pulled the rug out from under not only the South Vietnamese but our own troops as well.
Ken,
I couldn't agree more but Miller and Skelton have elevated this to a level that without agreeing to the "compromise" it's a roll of the dice with the rest of the city council just letting the thing in into Veterans Park proper. And my sources tell me that at this point there's not enough council members willing to vote with the veterans for fear of looking politically incorrect against the Vietnamese community. Why so much worry about them over our own troops is beyond me but that unfortunately illustrates the times we live in.
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