WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL FOUNDATION WASHINGTON DC February 15, 2018 United States Commission of Fine Arts 401 F Street NW Suite 312, Washington DC 20001-2728 Dear Commissioners: ‘As the founder, alongside of the last WWI Veteran Frank Buckles of this entire memorial effort I again am writing to express grave concems to the continuing and devolving effort to remember 4,734,991 veterans and indeed a catastrophic and historic World War. Having looked into the eyes of not just Mr. Buckles but 11 other Great War veterans, I continue to be in deep correspondence about the memorial to their grandchildren, great grandchildren and even children, I cannot underscore the literal gut wrenching response I am receiving from not only them but the American public. Even in their age, the veterans literally were sickened that their sacrifice would be wiped from history. Because of our social media presence I also report that those overseas frequently question why the memorial is now confined to the bottom of the park. ‘Simply put, what has happened now is a collision with an end result of total obliteration of the intent and the defistton oF he origind aciect ond landscapes visions, Thetrfacmaton and defiving feskores stand tr Pershing Park are about to be washed away. It will not work. Either the park isa park orit is a memorial- it caut be uth Anaya endl Gioconstng boyoeal thr wil eclp loa at om econ. I would like to point out the creation of impotence for design by the placement of the sculpture and refilling ofthe pond. Ifone extracts themselves from the emotion, urge to blend (both purposes at stake) and the push to complete this before the anniversary is done, the fact remains that if the sculpture is placed where planned, all of the stairs and surrounding landscape will be in at the very least, a gray area of purpose. At the realistic as- sessment, the stairs will be absorbed into the mish mash attempt to honoring 116,561 dead. Incidentally the dead did not end there. Numerous people have contacted me about the deaths later in life from the affects of the gusing and thetreleimte dentin ahr fe was have followed this in macro and while the effort appears to have some merit I cannot but ponder how we got here? ‘This is further strengthened after my recent Washington Post opinion piece (http://wapo.st/2sgf301 about the issue . It is strengthened because of the responses I received. What are those responses? The most tormenting is that of one who entered the competition for design as an architect. With his dismay and examination it has certainly spun into a discussion of an architect deeply concerned- angry- with the timeline of the competition and if the WWICC was informed either prior to or even during the early stages of the competition as to the upcoming status of protection (National Register). Since this will be public record I will not state his name but will put you in contact should you desire. ‘This is part of his reaction: "And yes, knowing now that the Park was designated historic pisses me off. Hun- dreds of hours go into these things, not to mention the out of pocket costs of renderings. Not sure ifthere is anything productive that can be done ~ maybe some clever lawyer could put together a class action suit..." Continued-WORLD WAR | MEMORIAL FOUNDATION WASHINGTON DC Continued from page 1. ‘Timeline of WWIM competition and notification Pershing Park would be protected (not informing contes- tants) January 2015 Article released January 2016 indicates the WWICC knew January 2015 PRIOR to the compe- tition the park would be protected (hitp: / /bit. ly/1JUS2Z9) Peter May states in article that: "This should ‘come as no surprise —NPS official Peter May, an adviser to the design competition, has said it was assumed more than a year ago that Pershing Park would be determined eligible.” -May 4-8, 2015 -- Public notice ofupcoming competition -May 21, 2015 - Competition kickoff and release of Competition Manual aly 21,2015. Stage Design Entries Due (electronic submission and entry fe paid) July 22-24, 2015 -- Stage I Entry Conformance Review “July 28-30, 2015 ~- Stage I Jury Session ‘August 14, 2015 -- Announcement of selected Stage II Participants/Concepts -September 9-10, 2015 -- Stage II Briefing -October 6-8, 2015 -- Stage IT Mid-course Review 1 November 3-5, 2015 ~ Stage II Mid-course Review 2 -November 15, 2015 notification of flaws in competition by Thomas Luebke December 9, 2015 ~- Stage I Design Submittal Due (Exhibit Boards, Project Narrative, Electronic file) December 14-22, 2015 ~ Public Exhibition of Stage II Design Submittals jfanuag y 4, 2016 Letter sent from Gary Vogel and received (Articles reporting the park would be protected ips? /bitly/2EbuWel & hitp://bitly/1}03229) January 6-8, 2016 ~ Stage Il Jury Session (potential public presentations by Stage II Participants) January 20,2016 -- Announcement of Selected Design/Design Team, Again and again the WWICC has ignored direction from the Commissions that oversee this, Whether it be advisement about the park being protected or even as oflate making the sculpture larger both in width but now in depth after commissions instructed them to make is less intrusive. We can now see the extreme dan- gers of bypassing the core rules of site search and historic research before a competition. ‘What good are significant protections and instructions if they are ignored or at the least pushed beyond the limit enough to erode theit clarity for future situations? On behalf of the last WWI Veteran and all of those that are following this story we appreciate your time and consideration. Patriotically yours, David Defonge, Founder, WWI Memorial Effort- DC Spokesman for the last WWI Veterans Frank Woodruff Buckles