at to be left out on this one. The Government’s Commission of Fine Arts also joined in the attempt to stop the memorial. The commission appointed by the president, was a body of aesthetic consultants that had jurisdiction over art placed on federal property in the capital. The battle was not between the Marines and the post war modernist but a struggle among the advocates of traditional representational art. The commission wanted the Marine Corp league to drop de Weldon and go with an artist through open competition. The Marines knew de Weldon’s version of the statue and that was the statue they wanted. Ten professors from American University collectively dismissed de Weldon’s sculpture as mediocrity and called it “ordinary,” “ineffective,” and “unsculpturesque.” Donald De Lu president of the National Sculpture Society stated that:“Instead of immortalizing the brave Marines who have given their lives for their country, the proposed design, if permitted to be carried out would be only a source of bitter resentment, violent criticism, and ridicule.” William Wheeler, later to become the President of the Sculpture Society, submitted as letter to Secretary of State Forrestal claiming numerous wrong doings by de Weldon. These charges ranged from shady business practices, expired visa, misrepresenting art, and shipping busts that were still wet and the suing for damages when they arrived damaged. In late 1947 the monument received another setback. The Commission of Fine Art, which has the aesthetic approval of all monuments placed in the Washington area, rejected the memorial because of its size and the location that was selected. Later that same year the Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation was formed with General Denig as president and Harry Dash as head of finance. It was later discovered that Harry Dash was embezzling funds amounting to over $100,000 of the contributions....
