It’s official: Someone vandalized the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Updated
posted at 3:03 pm on September 17, 2007 by Bryan
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Here’s our video report on the wall’s defacement. Due to YouTube’s (lack of) clarity, it’s hard to see. But about two-thirds of the memorial was defaced along the bottom with some unknown chemical agent that soaked into the granite surface enough to discolor it. Several panels were evidently splashed with the same substance.
The Park Police originally stated that the discoloration was the result of a “cleaning accident,” but now they’re saying that it was vandalism, and they’re investigating:
The unidentified substance that was found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial earlier this month was the result of vandalism, the U.S. Park Police said today.
Sgt. Robert Lachance, a spokesman for the Park Police, said the investigation into the incident is continuing, but the detective on the case had ruled it an act of vandalism. Lachance said he could provide no more details because the probe is still underway.
The oily substance was first reported to police the evening of Sept. 7, National Park Service officials have said. Dark blotches were found along a stone curb at the base of the memorial for most of its length, and at least two of the wall’s panels appeared to have had something splashed on them.
There is a reward for information that leads to the perpetrators.
Update: I see a few folks down in comments, questioning the timing and so forth since the vandalism occurred before the big die in and counter protest, but the Park Service didn’t announce that it was indeed vandalism until after the festivities. What are all you people, paranoid or something?
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Theywere spit on when they came home and continue to be humiliated 30+ years later. It’s time to end this!
Pam on September 17, 2007 at 3:07 PM
I would LOVE to know why the Park Police denied it was vandalism for so long.
There is good news, thankfully:
RushBaby on September 17, 2007 at 3:07 PM
Pardon my French, but I really hope someone kneecaps the putains who did this to the memorial.
Mindcrime on September 17, 2007 at 3:09 PM
Does John Kerry have an alibi?
Capitalist Infidel on September 17, 2007 at 3:12 PM
Funny how the Park Police waited until right after the big rally to announce this information. Anybody else wonder if there was political pressure to sit on this, to keep the moonbats from getting the bad press last weekend? Because defacing the Wall is the sort of thing that normal Americans would and should be outraged about, and they’d know who to blame.
ReubenJCogburn on September 17, 2007 at 3:13 PM
So I guess what I’m saying is, I question the timing.
ReubenJCogburn on September 17, 2007 at 3:14 PM
Not that easy. Granite is very porous, depending on the type. And oil is it’s worst enemy. We worked with some varities that you could put a drop of 30 wt oil on and it would soak through a 4″ slab in 24 hours.
You can’t get that out.
conservnut on September 17, 2007 at 3:21 PM
The rats really ’support’ the troops.
Should be brought up to all presidential contestants – “how do you feel about…”?
Entelechy on September 17, 2007 at 3:21 PM
They “support” the troops when the troops just sit around with their thumbs up their yahoos.
JinxMcHue on September 17, 2007 at 3:23 PM
My thoughts exactly.
highhopes on September 17, 2007 at 3:25 PM
Disgusting. They say they support the troops, but in all reality they hate any and all soldiers. They say, “Bring the troops home now!!” not because they care for them and are worried about them, but because they don’t ever think that there is anything worth fighting for.
StephC on September 17, 2007 at 3:28 PM
I question the timing as well. When I was there Saturday they were still saying that it may have been done “accidently” by a cleaning contractor.
BobK on September 17, 2007 at 3:30 PM
Funny how the Park Police waited until right after the big rally to announce this information.
They probably didn’t want to give the loons any ideas. ‘Cause once the concept becomes reality, it’s easier for the mindless moonbats to follow suit and get some of that sweet, sweet publicity for themselves.
wiserbud on September 17, 2007 at 3:33 PM
As despicable an act as this is, we need to disassociate it with the weekend’s protest or there will be much questioning of the timing.
BohicaTwentyTwo on September 17, 2007 at 3:34 PM
The republicans candidates should hang this right around MoveOn’s neck. Force Hillary & U-bama to dissassociate from the antiwar nuts.
Iblis on September 17, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Hey, I think I saw something about this on the nightly ne…..oh wait no, that was OJ getting arrested again.
Seriously, what are the odds if they catch the SOBs that did this they might get charged under one of those “hate crime” ordinances the left is so fond of?
Tio on September 17, 2007 at 3:41 PM
Any Code Pinko’s been treated in DC for chemical burns?….(wish it was that easy to find these animals)…..
Limerick on September 17, 2007 at 3:46 PM
I would think that every monument has some type of surveillance equiptment. It is not like this hasn’t happened before.
Everytime these punks decide to get together a national monument gets vandalized.
right2bright on September 17, 2007 at 3:49 PM
Connecting Bush with Vietnam?
The names of many young man drafted and sent off to fight a war. They did what they thought Americans should do when their country calls. They deserve much better.
Just shows that these people simply hate the military during any war.
Hening on September 17, 2007 at 3:52 PM
I just thought of something, what about a leftie college student or professor who has access to chemicals at a college chemistry lab? I bet it would be easy to find something that would eat or discolor the memorial’s surface, and there is no shortage of colleges and disgruntled leftists in the DC area.
Bad Candy on September 17, 2007 at 3:54 PM
Don’t you know that this is Rove. He knows that people will assume it’s the left, which will make the military rally to those on the right…so he did it to increase percieved conservative support for our military.
You’ve all been had you sheep!
(*sigh*)
Thank you, I’m here all night.
StoutRepublican on September 17, 2007 at 3:58 PM
I don’t think I understand where you’re going with that. The only reason I’m questioning the timing is because I think the Park Police knew last week that it wasn’t a “cleaning accident” (plenty of us didn’t buy that at the time, and said so, because let’s face it, it was pretty weak) and sat on the information until after the weekend. And the only reasons I can think of to do that are 1)to not make the moonbats look bad during their weekend of fawning interviews from the enemedia, and 2)a well-intentioned (but misguided, in my opinion) attempt to defuse tensions last weekend between the leftist America-haters and the patriotic Americans. Or some combination thereof. Sure, it’s speculation, but I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable speculation. I just don’t get why you want to keep the two events separate, when the vandalism happened a few days before the protest, it just wasn’t confirmed as vandalism until today.
ReubenJCogburn on September 17, 2007 at 4:05 PM
COWARDS…despicable COWARDS…
God Bless my Brothers whose names are on the wall…
Does anyone know what panels were damaged…???
areseaoh on September 17, 2007 at 4:12 PM
Imagine someone did that to the “Crescent of Embrace” … the media (and the FBI) would be all over it.
Niko on September 17, 2007 at 4:19 PM
They should ALL be put on the spot with “How do you feel about…Betrayus, the Vietnam Memorial, etc etc”
We conservatives need to keep this stuff alive as long and as loudly as possible, so the libs can’t weasel out of it.
jimbo2 on September 17, 2007 at 4:20 PM
If only there was some revered symbolic monument of the moonbat left…but their movement is a worthless sh!tsmear with nothing of value to contribute.
Poop rolls downhill, and since they’re at the bottom, the only option for them is to toss it up at the rest of us. Monkeys.
Ochlan on September 17, 2007 at 4:21 PM
I think ‘people’ will say that the park officials waited until after the protest to call it vandalism so they can specifically blame it the protestors. Even I thought for a second when I read the headline that the vandalism must have occured over the weekend. Then I read the article.
BohicaTwentyTwo on September 17, 2007 at 4:29 PM
There, fixed that for you.
My husband, 4 kids, and I visited the Vietnam Memorial on the first weekend in August (can you say HOT!!!). I’m young enough that I didn’t understand the Vietnam war until I was much older, and none of my close family members fought there, but I still couldn’t walk along that wall without crying. I was trying to instill in my children that each of those names represents someone who died to keep our country safe.
The defacing of the monument is absolutely despicable. I hope that those who did it are found, tried, and convicted.
acleaver on September 17, 2007 at 4:35 PM
Nah, when you read all the articles & blogs covering this from the past week or so, you’ll get the impression the Park Service was attempting to avoid blaming the protestors or diffuse tensions for the march…not that it was targeted at them moonbats.
There’s much more out there than just this article about the vandalism. I was surprised myself, given the reports, that anything but vandalism could be suspected.
Miss_Anthrope on September 17, 2007 at 4:39 PM
Can I question their patriotism yet?
wherestherum on September 17, 2007 at 4:39 PM
I’m searching for a more Medieval response…
Miss_Anthrope on September 17, 2007 at 4:40 PM
I’m thinking a Braveheart-style punishment…
wherestherum on September 17, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Well, if you find one… :) I really do wish we prosecuted people for treason and sedition, though.
acleaver on September 17, 2007 at 4:43 PM
If these despicable cowards are not found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, then it only emboldens more cowards to come forward. I have no faith that any effort is even being made to protect our heritage. I think if the Eagles try to protect the monuments and violence occurs, then the Eagles will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law though.
volsense on September 17, 2007 at 4:51 PM
Yeah, as Miss_Anthrope said, the Park Police trying to pretend it was a cleaning accident was just lame, and nobody bought it–even the Park Service said that the only cleaning the granite needs is being wiped down now and then, so even they couldn’t make up a reason for why an oily substance would be there. It sounded bogus from the get-go, and now we know it was. Some people speculated last week that the moonbats defaced the Wall in advance because they knew the Eagles would be protecting it on Saturday, which sounds pretty plausible to me.
And for anybody that missed it, here’s a link that Michelle posted on her site to a list of more monuments that have been desecrated recently. They seem to be going after the Vietnam Veterans Memorials in particular, which is even more despicable considering the way liberals treated Vietnam vets. I sincerely hate the kind of people who could do that, I really do.
ReubenJCogburn on September 17, 2007 at 5:13 PM
It does seem to be starting, the left really kept their hatred of the military under the surface…seems to be bubbling up though.
Bad Candy on September 17, 2007 at 5:19 PM
I would imagine they would use a poultice to try and pull the stain out. I have seen hydraulic fluid removed from sandstone with a poultice and only a minimal trace or stain. If it is shallow, they may be able to polish the stain out of the stone. If the stain in the names maybe harder to remove. The names were grit-blasted into the surface of the stone, which may have opened the pore structure and allowed deeper absorption of the oil. The clay for the poultice would have to be selected that could easily form with the letters of the soldier’s names to ensure full contact with the stone.
I would hope the stone they selected is very dense and has small pore structure to limit moisture absorption. Since it was selected to be installed outside, in harsh winter weather, it should be resistant to freeze-thaw damage due to the ability of the stone to limit the absorption of water. That may bode well for the efforts to remove the stains.
The Parks Service needs to hire a qualified petrographer, conservator, and contractor. I know that there are people in the department that can handle this type of project. Let’s hope they get involved.
Mallard T. Drake on September 17, 2007 at 5:34 PM
Hey, as the old saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to
get youdeface our sacred monuments, while government officials run interference. Remember in January, when the moonbats rallied at the Capitol, and the police were ordered to stand there and watch while the scum spray-painted leftist grafitti on our national heritage?ReubenJCogburn on September 17, 2007 at 5:35 PM
BRYAN,
Interestly enough, this happened a few days earlier. I’m wondering if it happened elsewhere too?
In Andover:
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.”
Rightwingsparkle on September 17, 2007 at 6:39 PM
100 years ago these were the people who were confined to mental asylums, and the world was a better place to live.
Ahh, the good old days.
infidel4life on September 17, 2007 at 6:41 PM
Thanks for that. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m using that from now on.
csdeven on September 17, 2007 at 6:51 PM
I prefer “Liberals support the troops the way Michael Vick supports dogs”, myself.
ReubenJCogburn on September 17, 2007 at 7:09 PM
Nope Bryan I’m just looking at the prime suspects first.
Oh my God I am profiling the moonbats.
I am just a bad bad bad un-American bigot I guess.
Mojack420 on September 17, 2007 at 8:03 PM
I’ve never liked that ugly, cheap, depressing scar on the Mall.
A more fitting memorial of the Vietnam War would be a war college for would-be civilian leaders. The final exam I’d like to administer is a conversation in which I’d probe for any sign of reluctance to make war for the sake of protecting and strengthening the country, and for any sign of reluctance to use any prudent strategy to win. If a candidate didn’t satisfy me he could go to war and fight to win, I’d signal my hatchetman to cut him, and I’d explain to him his mistake as he expired.
Kralizec on September 18, 2007 at 3:44 AM
Thank you Michelle.
As a Viet Veteran and 25 year retire I am incensed that those who do not understand the travails those, whose names are on the wall, went through to protect these vandals. Those veterans protected the lefts right to practice civil disobedience.
There is nothing civil about spitting on (happened on my return to civilization) a veteran or to vandalize their sacrifice by symbolically trying to kill (defacing their names) a veteran twice. Such an act is impossible because our veteran’s are immortal and protected by a higher being.
It only proves those that follow MOVE ON are cowards without an original thought or regard for humanity to propel our culture forward which is what MOVE ON should actually represent.
Why MOVE ON continues protecting the lethargic legacy of the Clinton’s is testimony that the public is at risk from outside forces that have no regard for our way of life.
MSGTAS on September 18, 2007 at 10:24 AM
I spent all of last week in DC. I took my 78 yr old mother for her first trip to the capitol. We saw the damage at the Vietnam Memorial on Monday the 10th. I thought at the time the someone had actually urinated on it! I didn’t know until I got back and read this that it was a chemical.
It’s disgusting that people do this. I have always loved to visit these memorials and I cry every time I do.
FREEDOM ISN’T FREE.
remember.
Aggie85 on September 18, 2007 at 2:28 PM
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