The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC honors service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The memorial includes the names of over 58,000 servicemen and women who gave their lives in service in the Vietnam conflict. The Wall, completed in 1982, has since been supplemented with the statue Three Soldiers in 1984 and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in 1993.
The memorial is in Constitution Gardens, adjacent to the National Mall and just northeast of the Lincoln Memorial. It is maintained by the National Park Service and attracts more than 5 million people each year. The Memorial Wall was designed by American architect Maya Lin, who was born in Ohio in 1959. In 2007, it was ranked tenth on the “List of America’s Favorite Architecture” by the American Institute of Architects. As a national memorial, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
I started making photographs at the Wall in 2002. The memorial has become a place of remembrance and healing for many of those who served in the war. It is the most visited memorial on the National Mall. I am moved every time I visit.
I wanted to create a memorial that everyone would be able to respond to, regardless of whether one thought our country should or should not have participated in the war.”
Maya Lin, Designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Sources:
- National Park Service
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
- Wikipedia
- Rolling to Remember