U.S. Vietnam War Memorial

There are a lot of war memorials here in Washington, D.C. One of the most famous is the Vietnam War Memorial. You can find it in between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. This memorial is very different than the others. It seems like it is just a wall. But it is a very special wall. It was opened in 1982 and designed by a college student named Maya Lin. The government had a contest to see who could design the best memorial, and Maya Lin entered a design she completed for one of her classes at school. Her teacher did not give her an “A” for her project, but it didn't matter because she won the contest!

There are actually two walls in the Vietnam War Memorial. They are set at an angle to each other and meet in the middle. This creates a “V” shape. The wall starts off really short at the end, and gets taller in the middle. One wall points to the Washington Monument, the other wall points to the Lincoln Memorial. The wall is made of granite and it is etched with every single soldier’s name that died or went missing during the war. Right now, there are 58,256 names on the wall.

Look closely, because if you see a diamond shape next to the name, that means the soldier died and was returned to his or her family in the United States. If there is a cross shape next to the soldier’s name, that means he is Missing in Action, or they could not find the soldier. Once the soldier is found, the cross will be circled, but sadly, this has not happened yet.

The wall was made to be reflective like a mirror. That way, when you look at the names, you also see yourself. This symbolizes the past and present coming together. For many family members and friends of the fallen soldiers, this can be a very sad time. For them, it is like visiting a grave. For others who did not lose a family member in the war, they feel proud for our soldiers. They promise to never forget their sacrifice for our country. Sometimes people will even bring flowers and gifts to the memorial and put it by their friend’s or family member's name.