What is the history of the Vietnam memorial?

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America’s honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing.

Are names still added to the Vietnam Wall?

The names of ten American servicemen have been added to the black granite walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the status designations will be changed for 12 others whose names are already on The Wall. The unveiling ceremony was held on May 13, 2012.

Why was black granite chosen for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial?

The names of soldiers who were dead had a diamond symbol by their name and those missing in action had a plus symbol. The color black was chosen, not as a symbol of defeat, but to symbolically represent the earth. Granite was chosen since it could withstand the tests at the time.

Who built the Vietnam War memorial?

Maya Lin
David Osler
Vietnam Veterans Memorial/Architects

The designer of the memorial was Maya Lin, a Yale University architecture student who entered a nationwide competition to create a design for the monument. Lin, born in Ohio in 1959, was the daughter of Chinese immigrants.

Who had the idea that Vietnam veterans deserve a memorial?

Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs, who had been wounded during a 1969 ambush while serving in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, had begun urging Congress in 1977, through his writings and testimony, to create a national memorial honoring those who served in the war.

Why was Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial initially controversial?

“I imagined taking a knife and cutting into the earth, opening it up, and with the passage of time, that initial violence and pain would heal,” she recalled. The design was initially controversial for several reasons: its untraditional design, Lin’s Asian ethnicity, and her lack of professional experience.

Why are Vietnam vets dying so fast?

Why are Vietnam vets dying so fast? (Reuters Health) – Higher than average death rates among Vietnam War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that combat trauma may still be affecting veterans’ health even decades after the war, according to a new study.

Who was the youngest soldier killed in Vietnam?

Bullock
On June 7, 1969, Bullock was killed by small arms fire while on night watch at An Hoa combat base. He was 15 years old and had been in-country nearly one month. He was the youngest American service member to be killed in the Vietnam War.

Why was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial so controversial?

The design aroused a great deal of controversy, reflecting the lack of resolution of the national conflicts over the war as well as the lack of consensus over what constituted an appropriate memorial at the end of the 20th century.

Why is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial controversial?

A group of veterans protested the design, claiming that it was an ugly insult that portrayed the war as shameful, dishonorable and worth hiding. “For too long the veterans of that miserable conflict have borne the burden of the national ambivalence about the war,” wrote one critic.

What movie helped generate interest in creating a Vietnam Veterans Memorial?

After watching the movie The Deer Hunter, Scruggs apparently stepped up his activism even further, using $2,800 of his own money to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979.

Why was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial controversial?