The Memorial
It is no secret that the United States has been involved in many a conflict. Yet no war has shook American’s to the core in recent memory quite like Vietnam. During the conflict’s peak, young boys were drafted into service right out of high school – many of them never returned.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. is a national monument dedicated in honor of those who fought and died in the Vietnam War.
Centerpiece of the memorial is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which is made up of two black granite walls that are inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 American soldiers who were killed or went missing in action. The wall is arranged in chronological order, starting with the first U.S. casualty in 1959 and ending with the last in 1975.
The Three Soldiers statue, which is located right next to the wall, depicts three soldiers representing the main branches of the U.S. military: the Army, the Marines, and the Navy. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, which is located nearby, honors the women who served in the war, both as members of the armed forces and as civilians. Many of them worked in hospitals, treating battlefield casualties.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was designed by Maya Lin, a Chinese American architect, and was dedicated in 1982. It has since become one of the most visited memorials in the United States, attracting millions of visitors each year.
