This memorial – 144 polished black granite panels at the western end of the mall – turns 40 this week. Events marking the occasion include the reading, over four days, of more than 58,000 names carved into his stone face. Each honors an American serviceman who died in the Vietnam War or went missing in Southeast Asia from 1959 to 1975, the years inscribed on the wall.
Since its inauguration in 1982, more than 300 names have been added, including men who died before 1959. The names of eight nurses are also engraved on the V-shaped memorial.
Each year, more than 5 million people visit it, their images reflecting on the shiny surface. Many leave flags, flowers, medals, old letters, photos and other keepsakes of their lost sons, husbands or friends. A scuffed baseball was left at the base of one sign, a Hot Wheels car at another.
The tributes are so touching that even visitors with no personal connection to the site shed tears. National Park Service rangers regularly collect these items and store a large number of them. (You can see a few at vvmf.org/items.)
Young visitors may not know that, as originally drawn, the memorial’s design was as unpopular with some people as the war – a regional conflict between North Vietnam and its communist allies in South Vietnam and its main ally, the United States.
About 2.7 million American men and women served in Vietnam; over time, the mounting losses sparked large anti-war protests in the United States. Unlike previous wars, there were no large victory parades to welcome these veterans home. (The last American combat forces left South Vietnam in 1973. In 1976, after the collapse of the South Vietnamese government, the country was reunified under communist rule. Today it is a major trading partner the United States.)
Scruggs was seriously injured in Vietnam and later suffered flashbacks to a 1970 incident in which 12 of his comrades were killed. After the war, he pushed for a memorial to honor all who served. At the memorial’s dedication in 1982, Scruggs said he hoped the memorial would “begin the healing process and forever remain as a symbol of our national unity.”
Lin’s design was one of 1,421 submitted (and judged) anonymously in a national competition. Its concept was minimal but mighty for some. Scruggs called it “very different”.
But critics called it unpatriotic. It reminded some veterans of the lack of respect they received upon returning from war. These critics attacked everything from the design of the memorial (to them it looked like a gash or a gaping wound) to its location (sunk into the ground, suggesting shame) to its color (why was it black when d other monuments in the city are white?). And why was there no American flag or heroic sculpture?
Eventually a compromise was found. In 1984, an American flag and a statue of three servicemen were added near the wall. Nine years later, a sculpture of three nurses helping a wounded soldier was added.
The changes have helped mitigate criticism, which has faded over the years. Today, the memorial is among the most visited sites in Washington. For Scruggs and many others, that means “these guys…didn’t die for nothing.”
If you go (and even if you don’t)
The memorial, just off Constitution Avenue near the Lincoln Memorial, is open 24 hours a day, every day. The 1 p.m. anniversary event on Friday (Veterans Day) is free but requires registration. For more information, visit vvmf.org/40th.
Many visitors bring paper and charcoal or pencil to make an image of a name, called “frottage”. The directories on the site indicate where each name is on the wall. If you can’t visit in person, a volunteer from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which raised $8.4 million to build the wall, will do it for you. An application form is available at vvmf.org/name-rubbing.
The group also offers a virtual tour. Download the app from vvmf.org/Virtual-Tour/#app.
Additionally, a three-quarter scale copy of the wall travels coast to coast each year in the United States. Twenty-nine communities hosted the Traveling Wall and its Education Center in 2022. A partial schedule for 2023 is posted at wapo.st/veteranwall.
