Vietnam vets tear apart Trump in court over 'disrespectful' DC arch

Demonstrators protesting against U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed 250-foot 'Triumphal Arch' near the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 24, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

On Thursday, May 21, the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts approved the "triumphal arch" that President Donald Trump is proposing for Arlington, Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. The arch would appear at one end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge next to Arlington National Cemetery. But a group of Vietnam War veterans, according to CBS News, are voicing their opposition to the project.

Vietnam vets Shaun Byrnes and Jon Gundersen, along with other opponents of the arch, filed a lawsuit in February in the hope of preventing it from being constructed. And they are still expressing the reasons for their opposition.

CBS News reporters Arden Farhi and Jacob Rosen explain, "They argue the project has been rushed and the administration hasn't gotten proper congressional approval. The arch, they say, would disrupt the symbolic connection between the Lincoln Memorial and the Robert E. Lee Memorial — a carefully considered sightline meant to convey unity after the Civil War. According to recent renderings, the arch would be more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial."

Gundersen, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer who is now 81, views the arch as disrespectful to the many veterans buried in Arlington National Cemetery — which was opened in 1864 during the American Civil War.

Gundersen told CBS News, "I think what we're doing is being loyal to the country, and loyalty can be measured in different ways."

The 83-year-old Byrnes, a U.S. Navy veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, told CBS News, "It's more about the duty I feel towards my colleagues and friends who did not come home to stand up against this project, regardless of who's in charge."

Byrnes, a Navy veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, said, "I think it's just disrespectful to those that I served with who didn't come back, and then, of course, to all those who are lying in Arlington National Cemetery."

Farhi and Rosen note that Gundersen and Byrnes "view the arch not as a commemoration of America's 250th birthday, but as a monument to one man: Mr. Trump."

Gundersen told CBS News, "We know how authoritarian dictatorships work. There's no rule of law, there's no consent of the governed, and there's monuments for the leaders there…. Even if you took private donations, is that how we want to build monuments? To the oligarchs who give money for favors? We have fought for our country. We believe in this country, and we're going to continue to the end — and I think we can change things."

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