Today is the last day of October 2009. As we welcome November, many Americans’ thoughts will turn to football, Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie, and even Christmas shopping lists. However, November is also a time to remember veterans, particularly our Vietnam veterans.
The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial - more commonly known as “The Wall” - was officially dedicated on November 13, 1982. I was fortunate to visit The Wall in 1988 as a member of the Youth Consulting Board. As it is for so many others, my personal journey to The Wall was poignant. I was 18 years old at the time, and have never forgotten the experience. Unlike other memorials I have seen - Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Gettysburg - The Wall is a living tribute honoring the fallen Vietnam veterans. At any given time, it is said that someone is at The Wall, remembering or paying their respects.
Most striking, however, are the thousands of items left at The Wall, “offerings” as author Thomas B. Allen calls them in his book, “Offerings At The Wall.” For that reason, The Wall is, perhaps, more closely akin to the “Wailing Wall” than a stoic memorial honoring a dead leader.
The Wall was designed by Chinese-American architect Maya Lin. Lin’s design was chosen from a field of 1,421 unlabeled submissions in a design competition that was open to all Americans, not just professional designers or architects. Lin was only 21 years old at the time her design was chosen.
Lin’s design is simple, yet undeniably powerful - two two-hundred-foot-long polished black granite walls, which dipped ten feet below grade to meet at an obtuse (greater than 90 degrees) angle of 130 degrees. The two arms then point, one towards the Lincoln Memorial and the other to the Washington Monument. They are inscribed with the names of the approximately fifty-eight thousand men and women killed or missing in Vietnam, not alphabetically, but in order by the dates killed or reported missing.
On Veterans’ Day 1984, the “Three Soldiers” statue was dedicated. The trio consists of three young men, armed and dressed appropriately for the Vietnam War era. They are purposely identified as a Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic. The Three Soldiers was designed by Frederick Hart who placed third in the original design competition.
Finally, on November 11, 1993, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated. It depicts three uniformed nurses with a wounded soldier, a fitting tribute given that most of the women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War were nurses. The Women’s Memorial was designed by Glenna Goodacre.
According to the National Parks Service, more than 3 million people visit the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial every year. If you are planning a trip to our Nation’s capital anytime in the near future, do not miss the opportunity to experience it for yourself.
