The
Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most visited memorials in Washington
D.C. More than 4 Million people come each year to feel the names and see their
reflection on the mirror-like granite. Although the real name for the memorial
is The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, it is called “The Wall” by most. Even though
the wall is extremely popular now, there was a lot of controversy surrounding
all aspects of it during its construction and the first few years after. Most
notably, there were objections to the design of the memorial, as well as the
designer. Thankfully, the objections didn’t halt the construction of the
memorial so the world can enjoy it today.
Maya Lin with her Design |
Andrews Air Force Base Hangar |
Here are some
numbers and facts on “The Wall”: The memorial was built from March 16 to November 1, 1982.
Each wall is 246.75 feet long and 10.1 feet tall at their tallest. Combined, the
walls have almost 500 feet of names! There are a total of 74 panels for the
names. They are 40 inches wide. 70 panels have names on it and 4 have yet to be
filled.
The Mirror-like granite |
There are 58,272 names listed on
the memorial. They are listed chronologically, and then alphabetically, by
their date of death or date reported missing. There were many people that opposed
this idea. They thought that the names showed no significance in such a list.
They believed that the monument should tell what the soldier did. Some even
objected to the memorial only listing the deceased or missing. They believed it
should also recognize the living veterans.
Vietnam Memorial Statue |
Vietnam Womens Memorial |
t conflict, a women’s memorial statue was added to the memorial in 1993.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has
been surrounded by conflict and controversy, but it has proven to be a very
moving and successful design. Because it is such a memorable design, many
memorials follow it. The September 11th memorial in New York and the
Flight 93 memorial (not quite finished yet) are 2 that are remarkably
similar.
They list the names in the same previously unpopular fashion as the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial.
World Trade Center Memorial |
I very much enjoyed this project
mostly because I remember being at the memorial and seeing the long list of
names and being incredibly moved. From researching the memorial, I found that
this is what it is supposed to do. I didn’t know that there was such a
controversy surrounding the memorial. While I was there, I saw no evidence of
this anger the memorial stirred up. There was one site in particular that helped
me very much was the History On Trial
on the Leigh University digital library. It was done by Edward J. Gallagher, a
professor of English and History at Leigh University. The website dealt with
all aspects of controversy surrounding the memorial and gave very many primary
sources. The memorial’s official website was also very helpful. I enjoyed doing
this project and all the others throughout this year, and I’m glad I got to
research this topic.
Sources: