The Vietnam War Memorial recognizes men and women who fought and died in the Vietnam War. This Memorial is a place where people can go, find the name of a family member or friend, and honor them for the service in the war. Many people were divided in their feelings about the Vietnam War. The idea of building a memorial came from a desire to bring emotional healing to those who had served in the war and honor those who had died. There were 1,421 designs submitted. The winning design was from a young women named Maya Ying Lin. She was born in Athens, Ohio and attended Yale University. The design was approved and the wall was started on March 16th 1982. After only a few polished granite panels were placed, the wall was dedicated on November 13th, 1982. It took two and a half years for the wall to be built. On November 11th, 1984 all three units of the wall were connected. It was accepted by the president of the U.S.A on November 10th, 1984.
Nearly $9,000,000 were given to the builders from many different organizations. More than 275,000 individual Americans contributed money to complete the memorial.
There are 58,249 names on the wall. Of those 1,200 are those whose bodies were never recovered. Names are still being added to the wall. In 2005, 30 years after the war ended, 4 more names were added.
To honor those who died in the Vietnam War, the
flag flies at the memorial 24 hours. 7 days a week. The Wall is often decorated
with flowers and other special things left by those who visit it. You can
visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. next to the Lincoln Memorial.
It is a beautiful, peaceful place.