The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, is reportedly almost out of money and may have to close later this year. A Virginia congressman has introduced legislation to "bring the Memorial under the supervision of the National Park Service." Is an NPS bailout the right answer?
Here's some background information:
In the 1990s a Virginia veteran proposed a memorial to honor one of the first units to land at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Initial plans were simple, perhaps a life-size bronze statue.
After a slow start, the project got a boost with the donation of a tract of land near the small town of Bedford, Virginia. Why Bedford? According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the community had lost more men on D-Day, per capita, than any other town in America. Although there's been occasional debate about that claim, there's no doubt the area lost a significant number of its citizens to the war.
The 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994 brought a resurgence of interest in World War II, fueled in part by the recognition that members of The Greatest Generation would not be with us much longer. Boosters of a memorial in Bedford campaigned for congressional recognition of their project as the "official" national D-Day memorial.
Such congressional designation of national memorials funded either wholly or in part by private groups is not unusual, and is in fact part of an effort to limit the number of such sites in the nation's capital.
Congress sanctioned the National D-Day Memorial, with management and fund raising to be handled by a foundation. The project scored a major coup when President George W. Bush agreed to take part in the memorial's dedication on June 6, 2001, but major problems were looming behind the scene.
By the time the memorial was dedicated in 2001, the scope of the project had expanded far beyond the original concept to include gardens, plazas, multiple sculptures, pools and a waterfall. An arch 44 feet 6 inches high represents June 6, 1944, the date of the invasion. A 2001 press release from the U. S. Forest Service notes the memorial uses
360 tons of green granite quarried in the Superior National Forest, Minn., to form the memorial’s 40-foot high “Victory Arch,” and tons more of the striking granite were used to fashion a life-size landing craft and other features of the memorial.
Based on photos and written descriptions, the memorial is impressive. It was also expensive.
According to media reports, the cost of the project grew from the announced $17 million to $25 million, and dedicated volunteers at the Foundation were stunned to learn that the effort was $7 million in debt. Federal fraud charges filed against the former president of the foundation resulted in a hung jury—and local debate about the motives of the prosecutor and the foundation official.
New leadership has succeeded in erasing the debt, but the combination of publicity from those woes, the steady decline in number of WWII vets, and the current national economic downturn has created some serious funding problems.
An AP story got wide circulation earlier this week under the title, "National D-Day Memorial on brink of financial ruin;" revenue from visitors reportedly provides less than a third of the $2 million annual operating costs.
It's too soon to know if media coverage of the latest financial crisis will help or hinder fund raising, which brings us to Plan B.
Earlier this week, a press release from the office of Congressman Tom Perriello (D-VA) announced that he had
...introduced legislation in the House that would start the process of bringing the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia under the supervision of the National Park Service. The legislation was written in consultation with the Memorial, which recently reported that it does not have enough money to sustain operations. Congressman Perriello has been working with Senator Mark Warner, who intends to introduce companion legislation in the Senate.
This bill (H.R. 2689) authorizes "the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, as a unit of the National Park System."
There's no doubt the memorial is an impressive and well-intentioned tribute to a large group of Americans who made the supreme sacrifice. Whether an effort begun as a private project should now be bailed out by the taxpayers provides plenty of fodder for debate.
As a veteran and the son of a WWII vet, I'm all for proper recognition of military service. However, it's worth asking how many different memorials to WWII should be funded by the NPS, especially if further dilution of already inadequate agency funds would be required to operate yet another addition to the system.
The NPS is currently responsible for the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, which
honors the service of sixteen million members of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, the support of countless millions on the home front, and the ultimate sacrifice of 405,399 Americans.
Another WWII memorial seems to have some duplication with the Bedford effort. The National WWII Museum in New Orleans was founded in 1991. According to the group's website,
The Museum, which opened on June 6, 2000, is the only museum in the United States that addresses all of the amphibious invasions or "D-Days" of World War II, honoring the more than one million Americans who took part in this global conflict...The National World War II Museum's exhibits encompass the June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy, the Home Front during WWII and the D-Day Invasions in the Pacific.
Dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and now designated by Congress as the country’s official museum of the Second World War, it celebrates the American Spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifice of the men and women fought on the battlefront and the Home Front.
How is this museum funded?
The National World War II Museum is a private non-profit institution. We have received federal, state and private funds for initial construction and the ongoing Road to Victory Expansion.
The amount of "federal and state" funds provided to the museum is not readily apparent. According to news reports, the D-Day Memorial in Virginia also received several million dollars in matching funds from the state, so perhaps that question is a wash.
Yet another privately-funded WWII Museum, The National Museum of the Pacific War, focuses on a different aspect of the story: the story of the Pacific Theater battles of World War II. It is located in Fredericksburg, Texas—the birthplace of Chester Nimitz, "one of the most respected leaders of the Pacific campaign of World War II."
No wonder that the supply of donor money for WWII-related projects is a bit stretched.
Today is the 65th anniversary of the D-Day Landing, and that historic event will be recognized in many locations, in the U.S., in France, and other locations around the world. What role a memorial in Bedford, Virginia, will have in similar commemorations in future years is yet to be determined.
Comments
I visited the D-Day memorial several years ago and, I'm really very sorry to say, I thought it was weak. It's an uninspired design, and does nothing to expand on the story of WWII beyond what any other existing monument, including the monstrosity on the Mall, is already telling. It also doesn't connect the place to the monument. There's nothing at the site that connects the memorial to the community, it looks like it was just "put there" because some congressman or rich man decided to put it there.
I feel bad saying this because, apparently, many people committed their dollars and time to erect and run this memorial, but it simply doesn't do the job.
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My travels through the National Park System: americaincontext.com
$2 million a year to operate it? I say cut those costs drastically by bringing in free labor to help maintain the grounds. Such as prison/jail work crews, and community service workers, to handle grounds keeping, and maintenance of structures and grounds keeping equipment. Gather volunteers in the community who are willing to donate their time as educators in job training programs (in grounds maintenance) for ex-cons or the physically/mentally disadvantaged. Bring in school kids to help pick up litter, plant flowers, or other light duties. Using the experience to educate the students on WW II history, as well as developing their sense of pride in our country, and respect for our Veterans. Inlist the help of local garden clubs, senior citizen programs, or churches to help with light landscaping duties. Help is out there....
I'm sorry to say, on the anniversary of the battle itself, that the so-called National D-Day Memorial, should not have been chartered as a national-level memorial in the first place. A memorial with a $5 entry fee?
One of my particular pet peeves is the elevation of D-Day, and the battle for Normandy, over every other campaign of the war. What of North Africa? Sicily? Anzio? Operation Dragoon, the other invasion of France? Market Garden? The Bulge? The Allied strategic bombing mission? The US cryptanalysis effort at Arlington Hall? The absolutely amazing resolve of the merchant fleet, which sailed off into a deadly U-Boat gauntlet to supply our allies? And that's all without mentioning the Pacific theater!
This is not to say that D-Day was not hugely significant. Of course it was. And the courage of those men is no less than that of many others. But it is no greater than that of many others as well. Compared to any other campaign of the war, D-Day has already been amply covered in public history.
We need to take WWII history seriously, and we need to integrate the best historical parks we can get while we still have the chance. Certainly we need one, and could easily create one, for the Manhattan Project--whether in New Mexico or at Wendover Field in Utah. Well-preserved training sites could be valuable additions, following the example of Tuskegee Airmen NHP which is important, not just for its civil rights history, but also because the airmen trained there went on to active service in the European air campaign. (Perhaps someday the NPS could lay claim to Arlington Hall, and create the world's first National Historical Park and Mathematical Shrine!)
The American Battle Monuments Commission recently opened its first interpretive museum at the Normandy American Cemetery. The NPS should seriously consider a partnership with the ABMC to place interpreters at overseas battlefields and military cemeteries, perhaps following the example of the Canadians at Vimy Ridge in France.
I agree with Dan P. The monument can go as far as I'm concerned. There is a memorial to ALL WWII Vets in Washington DC. All soldiers, all battles. $2M for an insignificant memorial? Ridiculous. Looks like a great place for a PARK.
How old are you and what have you done in service to your country that gives you the right to call this memorial insignificant?? The efforts of the young men and women that died voluntarily gave you every freedom and liberty you enjoy. I would think that you would show some appreciation for what you have-thanks to them.
With all the pork-barrel spending and waste that goes on in government I would rather fund this memorial than pay the salaries of Congress!
This is America, Vicki. You don't have to be a veteran or public servant to publicly express an opinion about where, how, and when the federal government should spend our money.
I hope the NPS can avoid taking on this memorial, but if it happens, it certainly will not be the first time politicians have forced the Service to take on other peoples' "problems" or surplus "assets." Although it has the best of intentions and a subject deserving recognition, the project has a host of issues, primarily many hallmarks of very poor planning. The NPS should not be in the business of rescuing failure unless it wants to interpret poor planning practices. If our taxes must go into this project, I would much rather see the Obama government stimulate it with a $50,000,000 one-time gift for an endowment to be managed by the foundation. It's unfortunate that the memorial appears locked in by development because it would have made a perfect marriage with a new national cemetery. With 300,000 or more WWII veterans passing away each year, new cemeteries have been established in recent years due to the high demand. The association with an active cemetery would likely have given the memorial a chance at a sustainable future.
Thanks, Bob.