Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
war memorial in Washington, D.C., built 1982. Designed by the American sculptor and architect Maya Ying LinLin, Maya Ying, 1959–, American architect and sculptor, b. Athens, Ohio. Lin's work is known for its visual poetry and sensitive mingling of highly abstract form with meaning.
..... Click the link for more information. , it is a sloping, V-shaped, 493-ft (150-m) wall of highly polished black granite that descends 10 feet (3.05 meters) below grade level at its vertex. Often called simply "The Wall," it is inscribed with the names of the more than 58,000 Americans killed or missing during the Vietnam WarVietnam War,
conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. The war began soon after the Geneva Conference provisionally divided (1954) Vietnam at 17° N lat.
..... Click the link for more information. . The austere, abstract nature of Lin's design, which was selected after a nationwide competition, at first made it a controversial way of memorializing the war's casualties. In the years since its construction, however, the simple, evocative, and starkly dramatic wall has become a national shrine, drawing more annual visitors than the Washington MonumentWashington Monument,
obelisk-shaped tower, 555 ft 5 1-9 in. (169.3 m) high, located on a 106-acre (43-hectare) site at the west end of the Mall, Washington, D.C.; dedicated 1885.
..... Click the link for more information. or the Lincoln MemorialLincoln Memorial,
monument, 107 acres (45 hectares), in Potomac Park, Washington, D.C.; built 1914–17. The building, designed by Henry Bacon and styled after a Greek temple, has 36 Doric columns representing the states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's death.
..... Click the link for more information. . Two nearby sculptures also honor those who served in the war; one is of three soldiers by Frederick E. Hart (erected 1984), the other of three nurses and a wounded soldier by Glenna Goodacre (erected 1993).
Bibliography
See J. Reston, Jr., A Rift in the Earth (2017).
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
900 Ohio Drive SW
Washington, DC 20024
Phone:202-426-6841
Fax:202-426-1844
Web: www.thewall-usa.com
Size: 2 acres.
Established: Authorized on July 1, 1980; dedicated on November 13, 1982. Vietnam Women's Memorial dedicated on November 11, 1993.
Location:Near the Lincoln Memorial at the west end of Constitution Gardens in Washington, DC.
Facilities:Rest rooms (é).
Activities:Walking tours, interpretive programs.
Special Features:The polished black granite wall is inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 persons who gave their lives or remain missing in the Vietnam War (1964-1973). The memorial was designed by Maya Ying Lin. The entrance plaza includes a flagstaff and bronze statue of three Vietnam servicemen sculpted by Frederick Hart. The Vietnam Women's Memorial features a multifigure bronze statue designed by Glenna Goodacre.
See other parks in District of Columbia.