On November 13, 1982, just over seven years after the fall of Saigon, a memorial to killed and missing veterans of the Vietnam War was dedicated in Washington DC. Efforts to secure congressional support began in earnest in 1979, and the final bill was signed into law by President Carter on July 1, 1980.  Substantial competition for the design ended with final approval in March 1982, and eight months later "The Wall" was complete. Nearly $9,000,000 had been raised from a variety of sources.  No federal funds were used.

Knowing the design criteria helps one to appreciate the memorial.  It had to:
1. be reflective and contemplative in character
2. harmonize with its surroundings
3. contain the names of those who had died in the conflict or were still missing
4. make no political statement about the war.

In the fall of 1984, the Three Servicemen Statue was added near the wall, followed in 1993 by the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

Physical Structure
Shaped like a giant angled wing, each of the two 246.75-foot granite walls points toward either the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument.  Where the walls meet, they are 10.1 feet high, however they taper to less than a foot at the ends. On 72 panels are recorded the names of 58,248 military men and 8 women who either lost their lives in the Vietnam War or are listed as missing in action (MIA). The names are listed in the order in which the men and women died or were declared missing.  There have been periodic additions to the names carved into the Wall.

The first name is located in the center of the memorial, at the top of the Wall, under the date "1959." The names continue line by line down each panel, like a book, toward the right end of the memorial. They resume at the left end and continue to the center, where the last death is recorded, beside the date "1975."

A symbol is carved next to each name. A diamond indicates "killed, body recovered." A plus sign means "Missing In Action," which has been officially renamed "killed: body not recovered."  If remains are found, the plus sign is changed to a diamond.  If someone MIA returns alive (no one has), a circle is to be carved around the plus sign.

Dedication Inscription
IN HONOR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN THE VIETNAM WAR. THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND OF THOSE WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED IN THE ORDER THEY WERE TAKEN FROM US.

OUR NATION HONORS THE COURAGE, SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION TO DUTY AND COUNTRY OF ITS VIETNAM VETERANS. THIS MEMORIAL WAS BUILT WITH PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

The Memorial is dedicated to the 2.7 million men and women in the U.S. military who served in the designated war zone.  Civilian casualties are excluded.


Recommended Resources

Websites
The Wall-USA: Website with extensive information including searchable database of 58,195 names on The Wall.  Website	National Park Service official site for the Memorial  Website
View the Wall: Site offers name lookup and images of any part of The Wall.      Website	Video article about The Wall, with many images
The Virtual Wall: View names and more info about those honored on The Wall, by name, state/city, military unit, and more.  Website Includes virtual memorials to individuals - one can add information, tributes, memories, etc. regarding anyone honored on The Wall.  Example	The Virtual Wall: Find names, images, and tributes to the fallen by state and city  Website
Various pages with photos from The Wall                       1   2   3

Books and Other Media
Book	Book	Framed Photo	Book	Video: Story of the Memorial
				VHS  DVD

Other Sites of Potential Interest (content selected automatically)

Test Your Knowledge
This test covers the information in this article.  Read each question and decide in your head what the answer is.  Click the empty cell in the last column to see the correct answer.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial	The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on Veterans Day in what year?	1982
	What 3 structures make up the Vietnam Veterans Memorial?	The Wall, the Three Servicemen Statue, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial
	To what do the walls point?	Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument
	To the nearest 1,000, how many names are on the wall?	58,000
	How many are women?	8
	Which president signed the legislation which led to the Memorial?	President Jimmy Carter

Click Here to go to the "Test Your Knowledge" page covering all articles included in this week's theme on DailyUSHistory.com.

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Honoring the Dead of War:
Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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