10 Best Facts about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

10 Best Facts about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial also called The Wall, national monument in Washington, D.C., honouring members of the U.S. armed forces who served and died in the Vietnam War (1955–75).

It stands as a symbol of America’s honour and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War.

Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is an exceptional national park site where you can pay tribute to the men and women who served and who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.

Within the site, visitors have the opportunity to honour the names of the fallen who are inscribed on the Memorial Wall, visit the Three Servicemen Statue, look upon the Vietnam Women’s Memorial statue and reflect on the In-Memory plaque.   

Being a moving tourist attraction it welcomes over 5 million people every year. Here are the 10 best facts about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1. Vietnam Veteran Memorial was Designed by a College Student

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund received more than 1,400  submissions from the design competition.

Maya Lin’s minimalistic design was chosen, she was then 21 years old and a senior at Yale University. 

Lin’s minimal plan was in sharp contrast to the traditional format for a memorial, which usually included figurative heroic sculpture.

The design aroused a great deal of controversy, reflecting the lack of resolution of the national conflicts over the war as well as the lack of consensus over what constituted an appropriate memorial at the end of the 20th century.

A traditional statue depicting three servicemen with a flag standing at the entrance to the memorial was the compromise reached.

2. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was not Built with Federal Funds

Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded  Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to the United States.

Within a few years, he began calling for a memorial to help with the healing process for the roughly 3 million Americans who served in the conflict.

He stepped into activism by using $2,800 of his own money to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979.

Many politicians expressed their support, and the U.S. Congress passed legislation reserving three acres in the northwest corner of the National Mall for a future monument.

All donations, however, came from the private sector.

Bob Hope and other celebrities lent a hand with fundraising and by 1981 some 275,000 Americans, along with corporations, foundations, veterans groups, civic organizations and labour unions had given $8.4 million to the project.

3. The Design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was Controversial

The design aroused a great deal of controversy, reflecting the lack of resolution of the national conflicts over the war as well as the lack of consensus over what constituted an appropriate memorial at the end of the 20th century.

 Many people commended Lin’s winning design, The New York Times saying it conveyed “the only point about the war on which people may agree: that those who died should be remembered.” 

 Author Tom Wolfe called it “a tribute to [anti-war activist] Jane Fonda.”

Vietnam veteran Jim Webb, then a future U.S. Senator, referred to it as “a nihilistic slab of stone.”

Worse still Pat Buchanan accused one of the design judges of being a communist. 

A traditional statue depicting three servicemen with a flag was commissioned as a result.

A  sculpture showing three women caring for an injured soldier was also added later.

4. It Takes 4 Consecutive Days to Read out loud all the Names

As part of the wall’s 30th-anniversary celebration in 2012, all 58,282 names were read aloud just prior to Veterans Day.

Volunteers, Vietnam vets, family members of the deceased and employees of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund read the names each day over four consecutive days.

The names were similarly read out loud in 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2007.

5. The Wall Contains Names of People from other Countries

There are 120 individuals on The Wall who listed foreign countries as their home of record.

The countries include Australia, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Pacific Island, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland.

6. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Black Granite Sourced from India

The granite from India has 58,272 names carved in it.  However, offers of stone from Canada and Sweden were not accepted as they had shielded American draft evaders during the conflict.

The stone for the walls, safety curbs, and walkways is black granite quarried near Bangalore, India. 

Securing the black granite for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall became a make-or-break deal for the suppliers in the early 1980s.

The reflective black granite of the Memorial is meant to do two things: it allows the names to take precedence.

The reflection also allows the visitor to feel as though they are looking into the peaceful “other world” of the dead.

The Monument is meant to honour the sacrifice of the individuals whose names are on the wall and to allow their loved ones to come to terms with their deaths.

7.  Vietnam Veterans Memorial Offers Free Name Rubbing

 “The Wall,”  monument is etched with the names of 58,279 service members whose deaths were a result of the war.

Visitors can find the name of a loved one and often use paper and charcoal to make a rubbing of the etching on The Wall’s surface.

Thanks to supporters and volunteers, VVMF provides more than 2,000 free name rubbings for those who couldn’t make it to The Wall every year.

If you are interested in receiving a rubbing of a name on The Wall, you have to fill out a  Name Rubbing Request Form.

Then the Wall volunteers will do the rubbing and send it to you at the address you list.

This service is provided free of charge thanks to the many supporters of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

8. Offerings Left at the Memorial are Stored

Tens of thousands of tribute artefacts have been intentionally left at the memorial since its opening.

Further, people also leave letters, POW/MIA commemorative bracelets, military medals, dog tags, religious items and photographs.

One person even left behind a motorcycle.

Rangers from the National Park Service collect these items every day and, with the exception of unaltered U.S. flags and perishables, send them to a storage facility in Maryland.

9.  Vietnam Veteran Memorial Walls made up of Panels

Each wall contains 74 separate panels, including four each end without names, for a total of 140 panels of names.

The list starts and ends at the vertex of the walls. Beginning with the year 1959 inscribed at the top of the panel on Panel 1 East (1E), the listing goes out to the right, to the end of the east wall, Panel 70 East (70E).

It resumes at the end of the west wall, Panel 70 West (70W), and continues to the right, to Panel 1 West (1W), with 1975 inscribed at the very bottom.

10. Names are Still being Added to the Wall

When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was first dedicated in 1982, Lin’s wall contained the names of 57,939 American servicemen believed to have lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

Since then, that number has jumped by several hundred to approximately 58,279. 

Meanwhile, a few survivors have had their names erroneously chiselled into the wall.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund receives numerous requests each year from individuals who desire to have particular names placed on the Memorial. 

It is the Department of Defense that makes the decisions. VMMF does not have the authority to overrule those who adjudicate these matters.

According to current DoD guidelines, service members are eligible for inscription on The Wall if they have:

·         died (no matter the cause) within the defined combat zone of Vietnam (varies based on dates)

·         died while on a combat/combat support mission to/from the defined combat zone of Vietnam.

·         died within 120 days of wounds, physical injuries, or illnesses incurred or diagnosed in the defined combat zone of Vietnam.

For more info: https://www.vvmf.org/About-The-Wall/

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The memorial is in Constitution Gardens, adjacent to the National Mall and just northeast of the Lincoln Memorial.

3 million people visit the wall each year.

In 2007, it was ranked tenth on the “List of America’s Favorite Architecture” by the American Institute of Architects.