Vietnam Memorial

My favorite D.C. memorial is the Vietnam Memorial. I love the design of it, it is very artistic and moving. There is something very spiritual about this place. I love the message that it invokes and I just really like the feeling of humility, respect, admiration, and gratitude that I feel when I see all of those names.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial recognizes and honors the men and women who served in one of America's most divisive wars. The memorial grew out of a need to heal the nation's wounds as America struggled to reconcile different moral and political points of view. In fact, the memorial was conceived and designed to make no political statement whatsoever about the war. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a place where everyone, regardless of opinion, can come together and remember and honor those who served. By doing so, the memorial has paved the way towards reconciliation and healing, a process that continues today. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial accomplishes these goals through the three components that comprise the memorial: the Wall of names, the Three Servicemen Statue and Flagpole, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

Maya Ying Lin, the designer, wanted to create a park within a park - a quiet protected place onto itself, yet harmonious with the overall plan of Constitution Gardens. The walls have a mirror-like surface (polished black granite) reflecting the images of the surrounding trees, lawns, monuments, and visitors. The walls seem to stretch into the distance, directing us towards the Washington Monument, in the east, and the Lincoln Memorial, to the west, thus bring the Vietnam Veterans Memorial into a historical context.

Toward the Washington Monument.

Toward the Lincoln Memorial.

"...this memorial is for those who have died, and for us to remember them." - Maya Ying Lin, designer, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

With the addition of three names added in 2007 the total is now 58,256 names listed on the Memorial. Approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing (MIA's, POW's, and others).

Set in the grassy park of Constitution Gardens, the Wall is neither prominent, grand, nor imposing. Rather, it is simple, thoughtful, and profound. It is a place to remember those who served during a turbulent time in American history. It is also a place for the nation to heal its wounds.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall contains the names of the 58,249 men and women who were killed and remain missing from that war. The names are etched on black granite panels that compose the Wall. The panels are arranged into two arms, extending from a central point to form a wide angle. Each arm points to either the Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial in the distance to bring the Vietnam Memorial into an historical context on the National Mall. The Wall is built into the earth, below ground level. The area within the Wall's angle has been contoured to form a gentle sloped approach towards the center of the Wall. While entering the memorial at ground level from either end of its arms, the descent to the center reveals more and more of the Wall until it towers more that ten feet above the walkway. At the center, within the protection of the arms of the memorial and surrounded by the grassy slope, is a place of quiet, calmness, and serenity.

"…the memorial appears as a rift in the earth - a long, polished black stone wall, emerging from and receding into the earth," Maya Ying Lin, the designer of the Wall, remarked in her submission to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Design Competition. She later said of her design, "I had an impulse to cut open the earth…an initial violence that in time would heal. The grass would grow back, but the cut would remain…this memorial is for those who have died, and for us to remember.I though about what death is, what a loss is. A sharp pain that lessens with time, but can never quite heal over. A scar. The idea occurred to me there on the site. Take a knife and cut open the earth, and with time the grass would heal it. As if you cut open the rock and polished it."

"It was while I was at the site that I designed it. I just sort of visualized it. It just popped into my head. Some people were playing Frisbee. It was a beautiful park. I didn't want to destroy a living park. You use the landscape. You don't fight with it. You absorb the landscape . . . When I looked at the site I just knew I wanted something horizontal that took you in, that made you feel safe within the park, yet at the same time reminding you of the dead. So I just imagined opening up the earth. . . ."

"Approaching the memorial, the ground slopes gently downward, and the low walls emerging on either side, growing out of the earth, extend and converge at a point below and ahead," wrote Maya Lin. It is here at the center of the memorial where the two arms of the Wall tower above and extend outward in a welcoming manner, providing for a safe and protected embrace, "a quiet place, meant for personal reflection and reckoning," according to Lin.

There were four criteria for the design of the memorial:

1. be reflective and contemplative in character;

2. harmonize with its surroundings;

3. contain the names of those who had died in the conflict or who were still missing;

4. make no political statement about the war.

On the granite wall itself, the layout of the names perhaps most strongly conveys the significance of the memorial. The names are listed chronologically, according to the date the servicemen and women died or were declared missing. Thus the story of the Vietnam War, from beginning to end, is recorded on the Wall. Finding a name would be like finding bodies on a battlefield, according to Lin. More importantly, the names of those who served together and died together would tend to be together on the Wall.

The names begin at the top of the Wall in the center of the memorial. The listing continues down each panel, as if each were a page in a book, towards the right end of the Wall. The listing resumes at the left end of the Wall and continues back towards the center. Here, at the bottom of the Wall, is the last death. As described by Lin, "…the war's beginning and end meet; the war is 'complete,' coming full circle…." By illustrating that the war has come to completion, perhaps the Wall encourages visitors to move on to the next step of coping with their feelings about the war and those who served. In addition, the circular layout of the names may also suggest that the healing of the nation can also come full circle.

The black granite of the Wall not only records the past, but it literally reflects the present as images of the nearby grass, trees, sky, and visitors are reflected in vivid color. When looking into the Wall, the images of the present are intermixed with the names of the past. This may symbolically bridge the past with the present and help visitors deal with the past. The reflections of the Wall may also encourage those who visit to reflect on the Vietnam war, those who served, the healing that the nation has achieved, and the healing that has yet to be accomplished.

Name after name after name appears in an almost never-ending account. The listing appears chaotic, just like war. But there is order to the chaos. The names are listed in the order in which the men and women died or were declared missing.Other than the names, nothing on the Wall describes who the men and women were. No name appears any more meaningful or important than any other. The names are distinguished only by how the men and women were lost. A diamond next to a name indicates a person was killed. A plus next to a name indicates a person is missing. Over 1,000 of the names on the Wall are of people who are missing.

Every day, family and friends of those on the Wall, and the general public, visit the memorial. Often, they leave flowers and mementos to remember their loved ones. They leave letters to say thank-you, good-bye, "I'm sorry," and whatever else is in their heart. Some take pencil rubbings of the name of someone special.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall honors all who served, and in particular, those who were lost. The memorial puts a human face on what was America's longest war.

The last time that I was here, I didn't have the opportunity that I had this time. I was able to help Spencer find a name of an acquaintance of Joyce (Spencer's mom) that served and died in Vietnam. This really, really brought the memorial to life for me even more than before. It makes it a little more personal. And to realize that the name on the wall is a real person that lived and was cared about and had a life...it just really makes you think. That means that EVERY name on that wall was someone important. They were someone that was deeply loved by their family and friends. And all of those people died for me. What a selfless sacrifice. What an honorable thing to do. It is so Christlike. It really got me choked up. I loved watching all of the other people find names and making copies, too. It was just really cool.

Here is Spencer coloring over the inscription to make a copy of the name. There were people there in the freezing cold to help us. The showed us how to find the name and gave us the supplies that we needed to make the copy.

Again, here he is coloring. It was pretty high up on the wall.

Here is the name: Peter R Carroll

Again, closer.

And here is the memorial. I love that it is black and it reflects the faces of the people looking at it. I love that it is built into the ground. And I like that it is the shape of a "V".

This is the statue that is facing the memorial. It is three soldiers. I like the image of brotherhood that I get from it.

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind. "
Major Michael Davis O'Donnell1 January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam Listed as KIA February 7, 1978