THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as an image of America’s honor and respect of the men and ladies who served and yielded their lives in the Vietnam War. Engraved on the dark stone dividers are the names of more than 58,000 men and ladies who gave their lives or stay missing. Yet the Memorial itself is devoted to respect the “bravery, present and dedication to obligation and nation” of all who addressed the call to serve throughout the longest war in U.S. history.

The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund, Inc. is the 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit association approved by Congress in 1980 to store and construct the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. Joined on April 27, 1979 by a gathering of veterans headed by Jan C. Scruggs, who was injured and improved for administration in Vietnam, the association looked for a substantial image of respect from the American individuals for the individuals who served in the war.

By dividing the issue of people serving in the military throughout the Vietnam period and U.S. approach completed there, VVMF would have liked to start a procedure of national compromise. Two parts of the U.s. Senate, Charles Mathias (R-Md.) and John Warner (R-Va.), led the pack in Congress to authorize enactment giving three sections of land in the northwest corner of the National Mall as a site for the Memorial.

The Three Servicemen statue is the aftereffect of the debate encompassing Maya Ying Lin’s outline of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A few veterans and their political supporters felt that The Wall was a “goliath gravestone.” It was excessively dynamic an outline for other people who needed a braver, life-like portrayal of an officer. To meet these concerns, it was chosen that a customary statue would be included as a fundamental piece of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The late Frederick Hart, who had won third place in the first rivalry, was chosen to make a suitable work of representational figure to be added to the Memorial site. The statue was unveiled in 1984, two years after The Wall’s finish.

The design of the wall seeks to do various things at the same time. First, it seeks to remind the nation about these who went to war and never returned. This it does by having the names of the soldiers on its face. Second, the wall seeks to reawaken the relationships that were broken by the Vietnam War. The relationships that were broken in this case refer to those people who died. Visiting the walls acts as a way to remind people about the past. The wall is reflective. This serves to make people get into the shoes of the warriors for a minute. They feel in contact with them, as if they are inside the walls themselves with the soldiers (Lyndon, and Moore 34).

The work fact that this work of art concentrates on one event in history is great aspect in architecture. It gives the memorial real meaning. It takes away monotony. The people who visit the memorial are often people who have great affection for it. That is why as Campbell (1995) says, the memorial does not just arouse a memory, it arouses emotions. It brings tears to the eyes of the visitors and they mourn for the lost again. The memorial is more than just a piece of architecture.

Works Cited

Lyndon, Donlyn, and Charles W. Moore. Chambers for a Memory Palace. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1994. Print.