VI E T NAM VE T E R AN ME MOR I AL

MAYA LIN, DC
the names would become the memorial, M. Lin
The memorial consists of three
separate parts:
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
By Maya Lin
the Three Soldiers statue
By Frederick Hart
the Vietnam Women's Memorial
By Glenna Goodacre
Timeline:
October 1980 - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation set up a
design competition
* Competition guidelines:
o U.S citizen 18 years of age
or older
o reflective and
contemplative
o be harmonious with its site
o it include the names of all
57,661 Americans who
died in the war.
o make no political
statement regarding war
and its conduct,
March 11, 1982 - The design of Maya Lin is formally approved.
March 26, 1982 - Ground is formally broken.
November 13, 1982 Memorial dedication after a march to
its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
November 1984 The Three Soldiers statue is dedicated.
November 11, 1993 Vietnam Women's Memorial is
dedicated.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Maya Lin
o born in Athens, Ohio in 1959

o Asian-American

o Yale architectural student in her senior year
o Class Project (memorial for World War III )

o Chosen out of 1421 submissions

Vision
I had a simple impulse to cut into the earth.

I imagined taking a knife and cutting into the earth, opening it up, an initial
violence and pain that in time would heal. ... The need for the names to be
on the memorial would become the memorial... It would be an interface,
between our world and the quieter, darker, more peaceful world beyond. I
chose black granite in order to make the surface reflective and peaceful. I
never looked at the memorial as a wall, an object, but as an edge to the
earth, an opened side.... By linking these two strong symbols [Lincoln
Memorial Washington Monument], I wanted to create a unity between the
nations past and present.
Facts:
7520.9m long

3.0785m high at highest point

Granite from southern India

140 panels of names

58.191 names on the wall

every name is 1.3 cm tall

Be listed in chronological
order (date of death)
The Names
Symbols:
o diamond symbol (death
was confirmed)
o cross symbol (remains
missing)
o A circle (inscribed
around the cross if a
serviceman ever return
alive. )
Controversy
Its like a giant tombstone...
black and below level in a city of
white marble
black ditch
if I had a brother who died in the war, I
would never want to visit this memorial
The Three Soldiers statue
By Frederick Hart
The Three Soldiers statue was
designed to supplement the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, by
adding a more traditional
component such as a statue that
depicted warriors from that
respective war.
The Vietnam Women's Memorial
(November 11, 1993)
By Glenna Goodacre
Hope Faith Charity
The visitors
Notes, letters, poems
Bracelets, flowers, flags
Etc