However, open-air war memorials—such as the National World War II Memorial in DC—are meant to be open 24-7 to the general public, and especially to our veterans to visit. As individuals, and with non-profit groups such as the Honor Flights, vets have regularly been pushing past the barricades to visit the memorials, and on Sunday, they gathered en masse to show their solidarity and to ask the president to open all the memorials once again.
Their "Million Vet March" on DC (and at other memorials across the country) on Sunday was NOT affiliated with any political group, in spite of how some have portrayed their gatherings.
Below are a couple of statements from the Million Vet March official website and Facebook page:
Official Stance of the Million Vet March on the Memorials:
The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC yesterday was not in alignment with our message. We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain. The core principle was and remains about all Americans honoring Veterans in a peaceful and apolitical manner. Our love for and our dedication to remains with Veterans, regardless of party affiliation or political leanings.
Supporters, as we have said all along. We are not affiliated with any political party nor did we accept any donations. Which we could have used, but we didn't like what we saw that was coming out of Washington; even being courted to become a political action committee which we turned down. Like we said we believe in transparency.
Statement from the Million Vet March website:
We are all military brats, current and former military spouses and some veterans. We cannot express how utterly disappointed we were that our Greatest Generation were being used as political pawns in the ongoing government shutdown and budget crisis. This should never be the case.
We do not care what political leanings you may be; be it liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent or whatever. The actions of the U.S. government, this week, with regard to barricading and shutting down the World War II Memorial to veterans—that may or may not be on their last trip to Washington DC—is a despicable act of cowardice.
Veterans this week were unwillingly pitted as pawns in this crisis. We feel that this should never be the case. This is why we will go to Congress after the budget crisis and ask for a bill to be introduced that would prevent any member of the government from closing our memorials down to any American, except for maintenance purposes. Our veterans deserve that!
Many in our group have decided that enough is enough. We are Americans. We are proud of our heritage and our service. As all of us were military brats and spouses, we have served in some form or another our entire lives. This is our way of life. We will not stand by and let the U.S. government dishonor the legacy of sacrifice of the generations before us.
The vets and other supporters that gathered on Sunday protested peacefully against the closed memorials with songs and chants as they dismantled barriers and placed them in piles on the ground.
It's not yet known whether the memorials will be reopened in answer to the vets' march.
Topic: Million Vet March on the Memorials: About Honoring Vets, Not Politics
Since the government shutdown began on October 1st this year, the nation's parks, including war memorials have been officially "closed," with gates and barriers preventing entry.
