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Vietnam Veterans Memorial Review

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Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Address: Constitution Gardens, 23rd St. and Constitution Ave. NW, The Mall, Washington, DC | Map It
Phone: 202/634-1568
www.nps.gov/vive

Category: Memorials/Monuments
Location: The Mall

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 5.0/5

Fodor's Review:

"The Wall," as it's commonly called, is one of the most visited sites in Washington. The names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the Vietnam War are etched in its black granite panels, creating a somber, dignified, and powerful memorial. The memorial was conceived by Jan Scruggs, a former infantry corporal who served in Vietnam, and designed by Maya Lin, a 21-year-old architecture student at Yale. The Wall was unveiled in 1982.

Thousands of offerings are left at the wall each year: many people leave flowers, other leave personal objects such as the clothing of soldiers or letters of thanks from schoolchildren. The National Park Service collects and stores the items. A small assortment, including wedding rings, a baseball, and photographs, is displayed at the National Museum of American History. The statues near the wall came about in response to controversies surrounding the memorial. In 1984, Frederick Hart's statue of three soldiers and a flagpole was erected to the south of the wall, with the goal of winning over veterans who considered the memorial a "black gash of shame." A memorial plaque was added in 2004 at the statue of three servicemen to honor veterans who died after the war as a direct result of injuries suffered in Vietnam, but who fall outside Department of Defense guidelines for remembrance at the wall.

The Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated on Veterans Day 1993. Glenna Goodacre's bronze sculpture depicts two women caring for a wounded soldier while a third woman kneels nearby; eight trees around the plaza commemorate the eight women in the military who died in Vietnam.

Cost: Free
Open: Open 24 hrs; staffed daily 8 AM-midnight
Metro: Foggy Bottom

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Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by hutch49 from Roanoke VA on 10/5/09
I knew a guy who had never been to DC(although we are closeby) so I took him to the Memorial to see his fathers' inscription. I don't think I will ever forget that day.

Member Rating: 5.0
Ratings details: Experience: 5.0 Ease: 5.0 Value: 5.0 Don't Miss: 5.0

Reviewed by cybermama from Rio Rancho, NM on 7/9/09
I went to grade school with a guy who is on The Wall. In 1996, we got a rubbing of his name and date of death. He was considered to be MIA and I had often looked for his name in the big book at our local national cemetary in St. Louis. He never came home. Why? He was the airman who represented Vietnam in the Tomb of the Unknowns! My family, friends, and a whole lot of other folks joined this young man's family and brought him home in 1998. RIP Michael J. Blassie, OLPH, class of 1962.

Member Rating: 5.0
Ratings details: Experience: 5.0 Ease: 5.0 Value: 5.0 Don't Miss: 5.0

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