European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 07, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse A firm memory of women in the Vietnam War by Timothy cah1ll new York Bureau Glenna Goodacre s sculpture of three military nurses for the Vietnam women s memorial resembles in style the Bronze statue of the three gis that stands near the Entrance of the Viet memorial Park in Washington but it shares More in feeling with the Stark abstract Wall of names that is the Centrepiece of he nation s remembrance of that War. Scheduled for an official unveiling on veterans Day it s the first Monument in Washington memorializing women s military service. Like the Wall also in Washington the poignant grandeur of Goodacre s Bronze statue is painful and cathartic. When it is officially unveiled on veterans Day the sculpture will pay tribute to the 11,000 nurses and other women who served in the War officially acknowledging what the project s coordinators Call the Unsung heroes of Vietnam. What Goodacre wanted to express she explained from her studio in Santa be n.m., was the Hope and Healing nurses gave to the injured in Battle. Each woman in the statue arranged Back to Back in a Triangle represents a different aspect of the Mili tary nurse s role. The Central figure is a Young woman seated on a pile of sandbags the Furni Ture of War Goodacre explained cradling a wounded and blindfolded Soldier. To her left a Fig ure stands studying the sky her hand on the seated nurse s shoulder in Comfort and Solidarity. Behind these two a third woman kneels holding an empty helmet. There is an almost religious Power to this Trinity their posture and expressions echoing the religious Art of the past. The seated figure with the Soldier collapsed across her Lap recalls Michelangelo s pict with Mary cradling the body of Jesus. The statue s other figures one looking heavenward the other in a praying position heighten the reverence of the piece. The artist acknowledged the influence of Renais Sance Art on her work generally but rejected the Pieta comparison. I was t thinking specifically of Michelangelo she said. The Christ figure is dead. The Soldier is unconscious. He will live. He is All the commission for the sculpture was Given to Goodacre Only after she had failed to win a preliminary design Competition for the memorial. She Learned of the contest just 10 Days before its dead line in october 1990, and set about educating herself on her subject through books films and the poetry the nurses wrote during and after their Vietnam Tours. The rough drawings and a Small Clay Model she worked up during that fallacious week were Over looked by the Vietnam women s memorial project in favor of two other proposals. But when those two proved logistically impractical to produce Good acre s design was re evaluated. Remarkably Little has changed from that Early rough draft to the finished memorial. The standing figure with her hand on her companion s shoulder is exactly As the artist first conceived it and the nurse with the fallen i is Only slightly modified. All the women Wear combat fatigues purposely without any apparent insignia or identifying patches. I specifically left out minute details for Freedom of interpretation Goodacre explained most of the women in Vietnam were military nurses but others red Cross volunteers flight controllers and others Are also meant to be honoured in the piece. In her original sketches Goodacre had the third woman standing holding a vietnamese orphan baby. The Santa it new mexican Glenna Goodacre above finishes her memorial which now stands in Washington below. The project head worried that by suggesting that innocents were harmed during the War the image could prove too politically charged and asked Good acre to change it. She came up with the kneeling woman a move that both improved the design of the statue and added a deeper dimension to its meaning. The woman and helmet represent All the sorrow of the Vietnam experience the friends and loved ones for Ever lost. She s been called the heart and soul of the piece Goodacre noted. That s How i the finished Bronze stands 6 feet 8 inches talk. It s mounted on a Low piece of Granite so that visitors Are Able to look into their faces Goodacre explained. I want people to be Able to identify with the just How successful she has been on that score is obvious in the emotions her work invariably produces Lake the Wall which Goodacre considers a Brilliant concept the women s memorial draws Forth wave upon wave of bottled up grief forgotten pain and private mourning along with memories of Youthful camaraderie shared hardship and tired Pride. And again As with the Wall viewers cannot help but reach out and tenderly touch the sculpture. In these Bronze nurses people see some part of who or what they once were. Goodacre also spoke with satisfaction of the in Stant history lesson her work teaches. Seeing the piece adults and especially children will understand at once that women As Well As men fight in wars she observed. Few pieces of Public Art enlighten the pub Lic so effectively. The statue Drew almost Universal Praise from around the country when it toured 20 cities earlier this year before final delivery in Washington. At a ceremony in july Gen. Colin l. Powell expressed the Impact the work had on him. I realized for the first time said the then head of the joint chiefs of staff that for male soldiers the War came in intermittent flashes of terror occasional death moments of pain but for the women who were there. The terror the death and the pain were unrelenting a constant terrible weight that had to be stoically car after 10 years Effort at a Cost of $4 million the Vietnam women s memorial is a permanent part of the country s historical landscape. When Goodacre s sculpture is dedicated thursday the time of recognizing and lifting the terrible weight will have officially begun. Page 6 sunday november 7,1993
