A somber memorial has been turned into a political sideshow this week — and tempers are rising.
The World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., has become a victim of the government shutdown, drawing attention-hungry lawmakers (and the media) throughout the week to a quiet place where respect is paid to honor those who had died serving their country — and the commotion is frustrating veterans and the volunteers who help them.
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“I’m pissed off,” said Gary Kelch, a furloughed federal employee and a veteran who was visiting the memorial. “It’s all just political theatrics. I don’t mind being furloughed if it gets attention [from Congress]. I’m good with losing a couple weeks of pay. But this is disgusting.”
(Also on POLITICO: GOP: Why are monuments closed?)
Barricades set up on the first day of the government shutdown drew the wrath of vets from around the country who had come to visit. That quickly became fodder for Republican lawmakers seeking to use the closure to cast blame on President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, though members of both parties were at the memorial this week, greeting veterans and posing for photographs.
“I think it’s trashy politics if a politician is coming down to get publicity at a memorial that they have closed. I’m talking about both sides,” said Colonel Al Appling, a Vietnam War veteran visiting with his wife, Joan, from Miramar Beach, Fla.
Indeed, several members have visited to specifically meet with constituent veterans who were in town. Honor Flight, a group that brings veterans to D.C., frequently reaches out to lawmakers’ offices to let them know veterans will be visiting. But in the days since the shutdown, the memorial has been used in a far more public and political context.
“It was really disturbing to see congressmen out here grandstanding, using this as a political device when it was in fact Congress — the House — that was responsible for the shutdown,” said Dave Smith, a furloughed EPA employee who was visiting the memorial Friday.
(Also on POLITICO: Palin: ‘Barrycades’ at WWII Memorial)
Others believe that all the attention being paid to the memorial is a distraction from the lack of action in Congress to end the shutdown that resulted in the closure of the memorial to begin with.
“Oh yeah, they’re going to show up, they want to make themselves look like they care and they’re doing something. What are they doing?” said Gary Gillest, a Vietnam veteran who has visited D.C. several times with his friends in the Charlie Company 25th Infantry Division. “And look, there are tea party activists over there! I mean, they’re idiots.”
“They just want to get re-elected,” said Thomas Lepisto, who was traveling with the same group as Gillest.
Ken Belcher, who served in the Navy for six years and was in town visiting from Jackson, N.H., also voiced his belief that politics had no place at the memorial.
“This is my dad’s place, he was a vet. This is their place,” he said. “The politics of this is horrible.”
His father-in-law, John Wright, a 91-year-old WWII veteran, is also frustrated by the political use of the monument.
“This belongs to us, not them,” Wright said.
The memorial was opened in 2004, taking about 11 years to complete from its authorization in 1993 to its completion. The total cost of the project was about $ 182 million dollars, and it attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.
D.C. resident John Aucott, who was at the memorial Tuesday when the first veterans moved the barricades, agreed that the political visits to the site and photo-ops are in bad taste.
“I’m so disgusted with that,” he told POLITICO. “I think the politicians who showed up here have some audacity.”
Aucott came back to the memorial Wednesday with a sign: “Our vets did their job. Congress, please do yours.”
“I’m being silent. I’m not shouting,” he said, explaining that his intention was not to disrupt the veterans’ visits. “I just want to send a message to Congress, since they’re here, that they have a responsibility to fix this.”
Kelly Opdahl, a D.C. resident and volunteer with Honor Flight, expressed her displeasure with the commotion at the memorial. She noted that a group of vets from Illinois visiting earlier this week was trying to steer clear of politics.
“Today’s about them. It’s about the veterans,” she said.
