Madison--Vietnam+Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

By: Madison

Who ever thought that one wall could honor tens of thousands of people? Well thanks to Maya Ying Lin it can. Many people talked down her design (Ferry). They never knew that it would become a famous landmark. In Washington D.C. lies a large wall with the names of more than 58,200 men and women who died or were lost- in- action in the Vietnam War. **Importance ** This wall is very important to lots of Americans. Out of over 82,000 names about 1,200 of them are of people who are missing (thewall-usa). It might not seem that big to you, compared to the 58,200 people who died, but when you think of it that there are about 1,200 families of people who don’t know what happened to their loved one it is a large number. **Building ** Over 1,000 people had tried to honor thousands of Americans. None had been more effective than Maya Ying Lin. Maya Ying Lin was the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. President Jimmy Carter signed the bill that allotted them two acres of land to build the memorials on July 1, 1950 (Ferry). **History** This amazing wall towers over ten feet above the walkway. The first additions occurred in 1983. These 68 names were of marines whose airplane crashed in Hong Kong. The names are listed chronologically, meaning that they are listed by the date of when someone died or was announced missing. **Symbols ** There are symbols next to a name that represent different things. A diamond next to a name means that the person was killed. A cross next to a name means that the person is missing. If you see a cross with a circle around it then it means that the person who was missing has now returned. **Recent ** A person’s name can still be added to the wall. If a person dies a direct war related death their name could be added to the wall. Names are usually added to the wall around Memorial Day or near Veterans Day (Ferry). **Present ** There are now multiple replicas of the memorial. They are placed around the United States (Perez). Since the original was built they have added nine groups of names to the wall. There were six names added so far in 2010 which brings it to a total number of 58,267 names of people who died or were lost in war (thewall-usa). **Future ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Based on what I have learned I think that they will always have people coming to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I think that it will always be a famous memorial. I am not sure of their plans for the memorial but I can tell you that it will keep changing lives.

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 94.3pt; tab-stops: 94.5pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -94.3pt;">**<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">Work Sited **

<span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ferry <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, Joseph. //The Vietnam Veterans Memorial//. Philadelphia: Mason Crest Publishers, 2003. <span style="background: yellow; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Perez <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, Gayle “A Wall of Emotions.” Pueblo Chieftain, the (co) September 27, 2010 //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Vietnam Veterans Memorial //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">accessed on October 29, 10< http:// thewall-usa .com/information.asp >