| Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is
one of the most visited sites in Washington. Only a five-minute walk from the Lincoln
Memorial, it is a stirring memorial to the almost 60-thousand soldiers who died in the
Vietnam War.
The Vietnam Veterans
Memorial is a black granite wall inscribed with the names of 58,191 soldiers who died in
the Vietnam War. As visitors look over the names etched into the monument, the mirror-like
surface of the smooth granite reflects the sky, trees and visitors themselves. If one
places their ear upon the monument and looks toward the Washington Monument, the reflected
images of the obelisk form a star.
Maya Ying Lin, a 21-year old Yale student at the
time, submitted her design for the monument in a 1981 competition. Her winning design
received mixed reviews upon its unveiling in 1982, but is now generally lauded. A statue
of three soldiers by Fredrick Hart was added later to complete the memorial.
Directories are available to locate names
inscribed on the wall. Families and friends can trace the name of the deceased and leave
tributes. The National Park Service collects these offerings and stores them in a
warehouse in Virginia to one day be its own exhibit.
|
