The Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Washington, D.C. is a very popular memorial created by Maya Lin who was 21 years old studying at Yale University. When the design was announced to the public and while it was being built, it was very controversial, but as the years went on, it became loved and cherished by the public. Even though there are still people who dislike the design today it is loved by many and seen as an amazing symbol to honor the American service members whose lives were lost during the Vietnam War.
Who or what is the monument memorializing?
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was made to honor the lives of American service members lost in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War (roughly 1955-1975) was a conflict between communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam. The U.S. had heavy involvement in the Vietnam War as the U.S. and other Cold War powers backed South Vietnam to stop the spread of communism in Asia. The United States did not get involved with combat troops until 1965 but by the late 1960s, the U.S. increased military involvement and sent over 500,000 U.S. troops. At the end of the war, about 58,000 U.S. soldiers died and the war deeply affected U.S. politics, public trust in government, and military policy. Many American citizens believed that we should not have been involved in the war and help many anti-war protests. The public became angry that American soldiers were risking their lives for a war they believed they should not be apart of and took out their anger on everyone and everything. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is to honor and remember the American soldiers who died in such a controversial and upsetting war.
Who built the memorial and why?
The memorial was designed by 21 year old Maya Lin who was studying architecture at Yale University. She entered a public design competition to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Her whole class heard about the design competition and decided that all of them would design it for their final project. She wanted to thank and remember the people who have died instead of just the victory like most other memorials or monuments do. She was inspired by the World War I memorials in Europe that listed out the names of the soldiers lost in that battle. She was also inspired by land art that sparked the idea. She had met a lot of the requirements that the art professionals hired to run the competition were looking for however, once she won the competition, people were not expecting her to be the face of the design. Maya Lin did not enter the contest because she thought she would win, but because she wanted to put her idea out there of making this memorial personal, human, and focusing on the individual experience.
In researching for the WWIII assignment, I had noticed how war memorials often focused on the victor, rather than on the individual soldiers’ lives, until the memorials to World War I in Europe. Those monuments were created, listing all the names of soldiers lost in the battles.
The semester ended and I decided to enter the design in the actual competition that spring, not because I had any thought it could win, but because I wanted to say something about making this memorial personal, human, and focused on the individual experience. I wanted to honestly present that time and reflect upon our relationship to war and to loss.
-Maya Lin
What message does the monument send about the person or event?
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has two black granite walls each about 200 feet long that connect to make a V shape placed below grade engraved with the names of the 58,220 lives lost in the war in chronological order. The wall is built so you can see your reflection as you’re looking at the names which connects the past and the present. This sends the message of empathy and creates for an emotional and personal experience. The memorial sends the message of honoring, remembering, healing, and the human cost of war. So many lives are lost during wars and we should recognize what it means to go to war. Being able to see all the names on the wall is so heartbreaking knowing that these names are real people who made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our freedom. When looking at this memorial and walking by every single name you should feel a sense of honor and recognize all of the lives lost. The memorial acknowledges the controversial nature of the war and helps to honor the people who did not receive a warm welcome home. Even though the war was very controversial, many people still lost their lives, lives that might not have been lost if the war had never been fought.
What is the memorial?
Maya Lin submitted her design on March 31st, 1981 and the memorials construction started March 2nd, 1982 and was completed and unveiled in November of 1982. It was dedicated on November 13th 1982 in a five day ceremony that began on November 10th. It was built with private donations and no federal funding. Each wall is 246ft 9in long and composed of 72 black granite panels that are polished. Walls taper from 8in tall to 10.1ft tall in the middle where the walls meet. One wall points to the Washington Monument and the other points to the Lincoln Memorial and they meet at an angle of 125 degrees. The names are listed in chronological order of the dates of casualty; names have been added throughout the years as they have identified remains. Since the memorial was dedicated in 1982, 400 names have been added to the wall. Soldiers who have been confirmed as dead have a diamond next to their name, and soldiers who remain missing have a cross next to their name. In 1984 the memorial was supplemented with a statue of three soldiers which commemorates the Vietnam War. The statue was put up to appease the people who were complaining about Maya Lin’s design and wanted something more traditional. It was placed a distance away from the memorial wall so it wouldn’t disrupt or minimize the effect of Maya Lin’s design. In 1993 they added the Vietnam Women’s Memorial honoring the nurses and women of the United States who served in Vietnam. All three of these monuments make for a truly inspiring and emotional area that makes you remember and honor the people who fought through these tough times. There are also several transportable replicas of the memorial for people who are unable to travel to Washington, D.C. to experience the real memorial.
What did people think of the monument when it was built?
The design was originally controversial because of its minimalistic design, the fact that Maya Lin had very little experience professionally, and her Asian background. The color of the granite was seen as bringing too much negativity and received a lot of backlash. All of the other monuments in Washington, D.C. are white except for the one with more than 200ft long walls being the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. With such a dark color and a change of ideas sparked a lot of concern in the general public. The memorial was also disliked by many due to it honoring only those who lost their lives and not the people who risked their lives and survived. Many felt that everyone involved should be honored and remembered. When the American soldiers came back from fighting in Vietnam, they were viewed very negatively from the general public, American citizens were really unhappy and angry with the Vietnam war and took it out on the soldiers. The negative view of the Vietnam war wasn’t only taken out on the soldiers when they came back but also on the memorial when it was being designed and built and Maya Lin herself.
How do people think about the monument today? Have views about the person or event changed?
Today, the memorial is loved by so many people and seen as a way to honor and remember the lives lost in the very controversial Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, people held anti-war protests because they believed we shouldn’t have been there. There were protests against the memorial for those same reasons. People thought it was an unprovoked war and the United States should not have been involved so why would we be memorializing it. People still believe that the Vietnam War was a war that we should not have been involved in but have come to realize that lives were still lost and should be remembered and honored. So as the time went on, people learned to love and cherish the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, its design, and what it stands for.
What resources are available to study the monument?
Here are ten sources I found helpful with my research and studying on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial:
- https://art21.org/read/the-black-gash-of-shame-revisiting-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial-controversy/
- https://www.vvmf.org/About-The-Wall/#:~:text=Each%20wall%20of%20the%20Vietnam,is%20superimposed%20over%20the%20cross.
- https://www.war.gov/Multimedia/Experience/Vietnam-Veterans-Memorial/
- https://thewall-usa.com/
- https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2979448/remembering-vietnam-the-story-behind-the-wall/
- https://www.thehistoryreader.com/military-history/maya-lin-vietnam-veterans-memorial/
- https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-veterans-day-ceremony-vietnam-veterans-memorial
- https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/vietnam/vietnam_wall/vietnam_wall.cfm
- https://migrationmemorials.trinity.duke.edu/vietnam-veteran-memorial-does-it-heal-nation-0.html
