Post by James R Cheever

As a retired U.S. Navy Commander myself, I absolutely agree with this article and my fellow veterans. The arch is an enormous waste of money, time, and resources, especially at a time when there are so many other real, demonstrable needs (healthcare, education, infrastructure, etc, take your pick) facing the people of our nation. The design, the finishes, and the size of the arch do not fit within the architectural style and scale of other Washington monuments and federal buildings. Also, more importantly, the arch itself evokes a feeling of a nation under imperial rule, like Rome under Caesar or France under Napoleon; not America under a representative democracy! Regardless of how this Administration / National Park Service “packages” the arch, NO PLACE in the United States NEEDS a vanity project to a SINGLE MAN, and it is CERTAINLY NOT NEEDED in Washington, DC.