A retired Navy SEAL congressman just warned the foundation behind the Global War on Terrorism Memorial that people will be held "personally accountable" if they push forward with a design he called an abomination.
That warning came after the public saw what the foundation had planned.
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation unveiled its long-awaited design concept for the National Mall memorial on June 10 – and the men and women who actually fought the wars aren't in it.
What the Foundation Built and What It Left Out
What the design shows is a steel arch draped in vegetation, a shallow reflecting pool, footprints pressed into a marble walkway, and filtered light casting shadows. What the design doesn't show is a soldier, a rifle, a flag, a battlefield, or any image connected to what 7,054 Americans died doing in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Veterans and Lawmakers Call the Design a Disgrace
Rep. Derrick Van Orden – a retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief who wore the uniform for 26 years – didn't mince words. "There is now bipartisan, bicameral support to stop this proposed Jazz Hands monument to our fallen brothers and sisters," he declared on X. "You are now officially on notice."
Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana, who deployed to Afghanistan as a Navy Supply Corps Officer, called the proposal "a disgrace." His statement was precise and personal. "Thousands of heroic Americans sacrificed everything in service to our nation during the Global War on Terror. I served in Afghanistan. These were real people with real stories. They deserve to be honored with dignity, not disconnected abstract art."
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah landed the same punch with sharper words. The design, he said, looks like "a disappointing landscape feature better suited to a hotel courtyard or mini golf course than a monument to the courageous men and women who fought and the lives lost to radical Islamic terrorism." Lee added that American designers stand ready and willing to do better.
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The foundation's process didn't lack input. More than 20,000 Americans – veterans of every service branch, Gold Star families, and supporters from every state – contributed to the design framework. Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who lost a close friend in the World Trade Center on September 11, led the design team. President Trump signed the law authorizing the memorial back in 2017. Former President George W. Bush recorded remarks calling it "a lasting tribute to the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice."
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America Has Seen This Fight Before
When Maya Lin unveiled her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, one veteran famously called it a "black gash of shame" – a minimalist wall sunk into the earth that critics said looked more like a tombstone than a tribute. The backlash forced the addition of Frederick Hart's figurative sculpture, "The Three Soldiers," to give the memorial the human representation the original design refused to provide. Forty-four years later, a new generation of veterans is watching the same fight play out again – this time for their war.
Dr. Shaun Rieley, who served in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay with the Army National Guard and now teaches political theory in the D.C. area, told the Daily Caller News Foundation the design fails on two counts. First, it is "unintelligible" – it requires extensive explanation to understand what it means. Second, it's missing what a war memorial is actually for.
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"Long ago the philosopher Aristotle highlighted the virtue of courage as that which is most characteristically displayed on the battlefield," Rieley said. "War always contains tragic elements, of course, but it also enables a kind of human greatness: great acts of courage, commitment, patriotism, and sacrifice." Honoring those acts is what a war memorial exists to do. This design doesn't do that.
Congress Authorized This Memorial and Congress Can Stop It
The foundation insists the design is meant to be "a living memorial" – a place to gather, heal, connect, and remember.
The men and women who bled for that memorial aren't buying it.
More than 3.5 million Americans deployed in support of the Global War on Terror. Over 7,000 came home in a flag-draped coffin. At least 30,000 more have died by suicide since. Van Orden's threat of bipartisan congressional action is real. The memorial is currently at step 15 of a 24-step approval process, with an official groundbreaking projected for 2027 and construction expected to wrap by the end of 2028. Congress authorized this memorial. Congress can stop it.
The foundation has time to get this right. The veterans who fought those wars, and the families who buried the ones who didn't come home, are watching to see if they will.
Sources:
- Thomas Wong, "Lawmakers Up In Arms Over Proposed 'Jazz Hands Monument' Designed For War On Terror Vets," The Daily Caller, June 13, 2026.
- "Lawmakers Criticize Global War on Terrorism Memorial: 'Disgrace' & 'Abomination,'" Military.com, June 13, 2026.
- "Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Say Memorial Design Is 'Disconnected From the Experience,'" Task & Purpose, June 12, 2026.
- "What the GWOT Memorial Will Look Like," The American Legion, June 10, 2026.
