[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12448-S12449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.S. MARINE CORPS


                         The Air Force Memorial

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, the U.S. Marine Corps will be marking 
another one of its historic birthdays, No. 222. I have been privileged 
to have worn the Marine green, together with my distinguished colleague 
here, Senator Chafee. We both served in the Korean war.
  The point of my remarks, Mr. President, is that we have a most 
unfortunate and, indeed, I think, unforeseen dispute between the U.S. 
Marine Corps and the Air Force over the location of the memorial which, 
in every respect, the Air Force deserves and has earned through the 
sacrifices of its men throughout its history. I remember very 
distinctly in World War II, it was referred to as the Army Air Corps. 
And then when the Department of Defense reorganized, they created, 
quite properly, in recognition of the enormous sacrifices of the 
members of the Air Corps in World War II, which suffered, then, the 
highest per capita casualties of any of the combat units. Mr. 
President, cooler heads have to be brought to bear on this dispute. I 
am hopeful that can be done.
  The purpose for my seeking recognition today was to recognize the 
Marine Corps birthday. But into this dispute has come a very solid, 
fair-minded, and I must say objective person, a former Secretary of the 
Navy, James Webb.
  I ask unanimous consent that his statement, which appeared recently 
in public, be printed in the Record in its entirety.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 Wrong Place for the Air Force Memorial

                         (By James H. Webb Jr.)

       Earlier this year I had the sad honor of burying my father, 
     Col. James H. Webb, Sr., U.S. Air Force (retired). His grave 
     sits on a gentle hill in Section 51 of the Arlington National 
     Cemetery, just next to the small park on which stands the 
     nation's most famous military landmark, the Marine Corps War 
     Memorial.
       Between his grave and the sculpture of the Marines raising 
     the flag at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, the Air Force 
     Memorial Foundation proposes to build a large and intrusive 
     memorial of its own. It is deeply unfortunate that the 
     location of this proposed memorial promises nothing but 
     unending controversy. And I have no compunction in saying 
     that the foundation's methods in lobbying for this site would 
     have puzzled and offended my Air Force father, just as it 
     does both of his Marine Corps-veteran sons.
       Until late this summer, few among the general public even 
     knew that this site, which is within 500 feet of the Iwo Jima 
     statue, had been approved by the National Capital Planning 
     Commission (NCPC). The Air Force's first choice had been a 
     place near the Air and Space Museum, a logical spot that 
     would provide the same dignity, synergy and visitor 
     population that benefit the Navy Memorial's downtown 
     Washington location. Later, deciding on Arlington Ridge, the 
     Air Force during hearings erroneously maintained that the 
     Marine Corps posed no objection to the erection of a memorial 
     so near to its own. The Marine Corps had yet to take an 
     official position, and no Marine Corps witnesses were called 
     to discuss the potential impact.
       Once the NCPC decision became publicly known, it was met 
     with a wide array of protest, including that of citizens 
     groups and a formal objection from the Marine Corps. Despite 
     a lawsuit and several bills having been introduced in 
     Congress to protect the site, the Air Force is persisting.
       This is not simply a Marine Corps issue or a mere 
     interservice argument. Nor is it a question of whether the 
     Air Force should have a memorial. Rather, it is a matter of 
     the proper use of public land, just as important to our 
     heritage as are environmental concerns. We have witnessed an 
     explosion of monuments and memorials in our nation's capital 
     over the past two decades. New additions should receive 
     careful scrutiny. Their placement, propriety and artistic 
     impact concern all Americans, particularly those who care 
     about public art, through which continuing generations will 
     gain an understanding of the nation's journey.
       The mood around the heavily visited ``Iwo'' is by design 
     contemplative, deliberately serene. The site was selected 
     personally just after World War II by Marine Commandant Gen. 
     Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., who was concerned that the statue 
     required ``a large open area around it for proper display.'' 
     Dozens of full-dress official ceremonies take place each year 
     at the base of the hallowed sculpture. Even casual 
     ballplaying is forbidden on the parkland near it. It is, for 
     many Americans, truly sacred ground.
       To put it simply, the proposed Air Force memorial would 
     pollute Arlington Ridge, forever changing its context.
       The main argument in favor of this location--that it is 
     within a mile of Fort Myer, where the first-ever military 
     flight occurred in 1908--is weak, as all the services have 
     extensive aviation capabilities that might be traced to that 
     flight. The Air Force also argues that since the ``above-
     ground'' aspect of its memorial would be 28 feet lower than 
     the top of the flagpole on the Iwo Jima statue, it will not 
     interfere with the grandeur of the Marine Corps memorial. 
     What Air Force officials take pains to avoid discussing is 
     that if one discounts the flagpole, their memorial would 
     actually be higher, wider and far deeper. Some 20,000 square 
     feet of below-the-ground museums and interactive displays are 
     planned, enough floor space for 10 average-sized homes.
       The Air Force plan for an extensive three-story museum and 
     virtual-reality complex at its proposed memorial is a clear 
     departure in context from this quiet place. During the period 
     leading up to America's bicentennial commemoration, the 
     Marine Corps itself considered constructing a visitor center 
     and museum on the land adjacent to the Iwo Jima memorial. It 
     abandoned this plan because such facilities would be 
     inconsistent with the purpose and the impact of the monument 
     itself. It is not without irony that the land the Marine 
     Corps deliberately left open is now being pursued by the Air 
     Force for the very purpose that was earlier rejected.
       Existing federal law precludes this sort of intrusion. 
     Title 40 of the U.S. Code states in section 1907 that ``a 
     commemorative work shall be so located as to prevent 
     interference with or encroachment upon any existing 
     commemorative work and to protect, to the maximum extent 
     possible, open space and existing public use.'' There can be 
     no clearer example of the intention of such law than the case 
     of the Marine Corps War Memorial.
       The puzzling question is why the Air Force leadership 
     argues so vociferously that its memorial will not negatively 
     affect the Iwo Jima memorial.
       I grew up in the presence of some of the finest leaders our 
     Air Force has ever produced, leaders who would never have 
     considered dissembling before a political body about whether 
     the Marine Corps concurred in a proposal that might diminish 
     the impact of its most cherished memorial--leaders who in 
     this situation would have shown the public, and particularly 
     the Marine Corps, great deference, knowing that its open 
     support was vital. Indeed, leaders who remembered that the 
     very mission in the battle of Iwo Jima, carried out at a cost 
     of 1,000 dead Marines for every square mile of territory 
     taken, was to eliminate enemy fighter attacks on Air Force 
     bombers passing overhead and to provide emergency runways for 
     Air Force pilots who had flown in harm's way.
       It is now up to Congress to enforce the law and assist the 
     Air Force in finding a memorial site that will honor its own 
     without taking away from the dignity of others.

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I have known Jim Webb for many years. When 
I was Secretary of the Navy, he was a young officer on my staff, having 
served with great distinction, for which this Nation awarded him the 
highest in

[[Page S12449]]

military honors and heroism, which, due to his humility, he rarely, if 
ever, refers to today. But that is so true of many of the men and women 
who have received those honors.
  Jim Webb has a way of standing back, as he is today, in his various 
professions, and looking at a situation and carefully and in a balanced 
way, analyzing it. I urge all those who desire to acquaint themselves 
with this dispute--particularly those in the Department of the Air 
Force--to read this article with great care, because he reasons well as 
to why the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, which depicts the 
raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, which is visited each year by hundreds 
of thousands of persons from all over the world, has a very unique spot 
in history and a unique location.
  It is, in my judgment, and the judgment of others, not in the best 
interest of this country, or our armed services, to dislodge in any way 
the mystique that surrounds that piece of hallowed ground, as it is 
referred to by all marines, past, present and, I'm sure, those in the 
future.
  So, therefore, I urge that all who are interested in this and wish to 
apply their own sound judgment examine the article of the former 
Secretary of the Navy, James Webb.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. KERRY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts is recognized.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, are we in morning business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Indeed, we are.

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