| Vietnam Veterans Memorial tips and photos posted by real travelers and Washington D.C. locals.
900 Ohio Drive, SW
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 Statue Added to Vietnam
Memorial by deecat
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, though subtle, is the most emotionally powerful of the Mall's monuments & most often visited monument in the city.
A Vietnam vet proposed the idea, & there were nearly 1,500 entries in an open design competion; Maya Lin (21-year-old) from Yale University student & daughter of Chinese immigrants, won the competition.
It's a V-shaped wall of names (58,183) of casualties done in polished black granite. The names are listed in chonological order from the first casualty in 1959 to the last one in 1975. Although it was completed in 1982, to satisfy her critics, a representational statue of 3 soldiers by Frederick Hart & a memorial flagpole were erected in 1984.
I marveled at the reflections in the granite of sky, trees, &, more so, faces of the people looking for names
I was stunned when I saw this wall...my throat closed up as I tried to fight the tears. Living through that war & being against it was a difficult time in my life, & all those memories rushed back.
It's so sad to see parents, wives/husbands, & children of these fallen soldiers touch the name of their loved one. They place flowers, notes, photographs, or momentos under the loved one's name. Thinking about it brings tears.
Veterans' groups have set up "makeshift" shelters & tents near the memorial (used as a 24-hour vigil site). They sell mementoes, advertise their political grievances, & provide a place for other vets to come to reclaim the wall in the privacy of night because it's too public in the daytime.
Lobbying led to the Vietnam Women's Memorial by sculptor Glenna Goodacre. It's a stirring bronze group depicting two uniformed women caring for a wounded male soldier; a third woman kneels nearby.
There are 8 trees around the plaza which commemorate each of the 8 women in the military who died in Vietnam. It was completed in 1993 & is near the Vietnam Memorial. Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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 Vietnam Veterans Memorial by tpangelinanLeave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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 Vietnam Veterans
Memorial, the wall by gosiaPL
The idea to built a Vietnam memorial was conceived by Vietnam veterans in 1979 to begin a process of national reconciliation. The design was selected through national competition (of 1,421 design entries!), in which 4 key criteria had to be met:
- reflective and contemplative in character
- in harmony with its surroundings
- names of all who died or remain missing
- no political statement about the war
The competition was won by Maya Ying Liu, a 21 year-old student, who created a park within a park. I must say her design incorporates all 4 criteria perfectly!
The memorial consists of 2 polished granite walls, 247 feet long, pointing to the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. All the 58,209 names of the fallen and the missing are inscribed chronologically - from the first victim to the last. Thus the names ARE the memorial itself. The walls reflect not only the trees, but also the people visiting or looking for names, making a contemplative connection between the past and the present.
This memorial was dedicated in Nov 1982. A life-size sculpture of servicemen was installed in the fall of 1984. And then, another element, a sculpture of servicewomen was dedicated in Nov 1993 as a part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Be sure to find all these three parts for a complete and powerful experience. For more pictures of all these go to this travelogue.
This memorial is located to the left of the Reflecting Pool as you stand with your back to the Lincoln Memorial. Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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 Bless them:-) by Yaqui
The black granite walls are V-shaped memorial with the names of 58,209 Amercians missing or killed in conflict.
The life size statue is a sculpture by Frederick Hart.
Open 24 hours.
Park Ranger on site at 8am Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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I find visiting the Wall heartwrenching at times - my first visit was almost 15 years ago. I didn't even realize I was there for the weekend closest to Father's Day. There were strong emotions as the children of the departed made their first adult pilgrmages to this memorial. I visited with some of the Veteran's who came on that particular weekend just to be there for the survivors. One who stood out was a Medicine Man / Veteran from Oklahoma. He smudged and prayed for all this particular visit.
For my second visit I wanted to see the nurse's memorial a little more closely. I found it touching and so real for today ....... the three nurses are doing what nurse's do .... comforting the injured and dying, watching for the next wave of patients, and silently grieving for the lost. On this particular visit, another visitor left a white carnation in the hands of one of the nurses ............. their way of honoring these special women who served.
The nearby wall includes the names of the women who served and died. The current total of names for the Vietnam Memorial is 58,249. Each name, a life ended during this conflict. Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://thewall-usa.com/women/
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 Beautiful by Yaqui
Open 24 hours
Park Ranger on site 8am Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr. Metro: Foggy Bottom/GWUWebsite: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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 the Wall by JetlagCity
This memorial made me feel sad. The Wall makes me think of that Pink Floyd movie by the same name. History seems to repeat itself... the U.S. is now in another war that's very divisive and controversial. Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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 Vietnam servicemen sculpture by gosiaPL
It is a moving evocation of what the Vietnam veterans, the dead and those who survived, went through. I looked at these servicemen's young faces and I thought: "It's not fair"... Together with Janet we spent quite some time on a nearby bench, contemplating. We looked to the left and we noticed a glass case with one of the books with names, which help the visitors locate the name of their fallen relatives on the memorial's walls. Quite a few people came up to check the book, but we could really tell whenever a Vietnam war survivor came up. He would have this tensed face expression, he would go through the book's listings quite sharply, with determination to locate the names of his fellow servcemen... One man came up to that book several times. Looking at him, and looking at the young faces of the sculptured servicemen, I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through his mind, what kind of emotions he must have felt...
I couldn't help asking myself how many years it will take before Washington D.C. gets another memorial - the Iraq Veterans Memorial.
For a close-up on the servicemen's faces as well as for more pictures go to this travelogue. Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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Posting pic for now, text will follow very soon. Leave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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 Vietnam Veterans Memorial by amsterdam_vallonLeave a Comment Phone: 202.426.6841Directions: Near the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War memorial at the west end of the National Mall. Located near Henry Bacon Dr.Website: http://www.nps.gov/vive/
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