The largest panels have 137 lines of names the shortest have one line. Watch this video about the design of The Wall and learn about the arrangement of names.Įach of the walls is composed of 70 separate inscribed panels. The names are inscribed in the chronological order of their dates of casualty, showing the war as a series of individual human sacrifices and giving each name a special place in history. The Memorial’s walls point to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, thus bringing the Memorial into the historical context of our country. Its mirror-like surface reflects the images of the surrounding trees, lawns and monuments. To achieve this effect she chose polished black granite for the walls. Maya Lin conceived her design as creating a park within a park - a quiet protected place unto itself, yet harmonious with the overall plan of Constitution Gardens. Subsequently, VVMF set four major criteria for the design: (1) that it be reflective and contemplative in character, (2) that it harmonize with its surroundings, especially the neighboring national memorials, (3) that it contain the names of all who died or remain missing, and (4) that it make no political statement about the war. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund wanted, above all, for the memorial to have a prominent site in a large, park-like area thus, the western end of Constitution Gardens was requested as the site. 13, 1982 and attracts nearly 5 million visitors each year. policy carried out there, VVMF began a process of national healing. By separating the issue of individuals serving in the military during the Vietnam era and U.S. The organization sought a tangible symbol of recognition from the American people for those who served in the war. is the nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 1980 to fund and build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund, Inc. The Memorial is dedicated to honor the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of all who answered the call to serve during one of the most divisive wars in U.S. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. Stanton is the Director of Genocide Watch and has written a staggeringly powerful chapter that should be assigned reading for all students of American history and foreign policy, members of the press, and those serving in both the Congress and the executive branch of government.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. Turner provides an excellent chapter dealing with how we turned victory into defeat… Dr. Commitment to Vietnam: A Debate' by John Norton Moore is also well worth reading… Dr. Morris, is excellent… The chapter 'Legal Issues in the U.S. Turner, has a number of fine chapters… The chapter 'Internationalist Outlook of Vietnamese Communism' by Stephen J. " The Real Lessons of the Vietnam War: Reflections Twenty-Five Years After the Fall of Saigon, edited by John Norton Moore and Robert F. military involvement-essentially snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Partisan politics and mutual mistrust in Washington kept that message from reaching the right people, and a misunderstanding of public opinion prompted Congress to outlaw further U.S. It is popular today to say that Vietnam "could not have been won." The message emerging from this new study, on the contrary, is that despite some horrible blunders and incompetent political leadership at the highest levels, by 1973 the war had essentially been won. military and CIA were intentionally engaged in "war crimes," such as the assassination of political opponents of the South Vietnamese government in the Phoenix Program, is laid to rest and military legal experts address the tragic realities of My Lai and measures taken to prevent reoccurrence. The book corrects various myths that continue to influence American thinking about Vietnam. Given the diversity of the participants, the general consensus that emerges will surprise and enlighten many readers. This resulting volume includes contributions by senior diplomats, retired military officers, experts on Vietnamese Communism, and senior scholars of history, political science, and law. Twenty-five years after the fall of Saigon, two prominent scholars, Moore and Turner (who debated in the 1960s), assembled a distinguished group of Vietnam experts at the University of Virginia to reexamine the conflict and search for its "real" lessons.
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