On November 13, 1982, during a week of gatherings that brought veterans and families from across the country to Washington, D.C., a new memorial was dedicated on the National Mall. It did not look like most war memorials. There were no generals on horseback and no towering columns. There was only a long, low wall of polished black granite, cut into the earth and carved with names.
Forty-four years later, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most moving places in the nation’s capital. Its story is about remembering, but it is also about healing, and about people who disagreed finding a way to build something together.
One Veteran’s Idea
The memorial began with Jan Scruggs, a Vietnam veteran who had been wounded during the war. In 1979, after watching a film about the war’s toll, he became determined that those who served should have a lasting place of recognition, with the names of the fallen gathered in one place.
On April 27, 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund was incorporated by Scruggs and fellow veterans. According to the Fund, the memorial was paid for with private donations rather than government money. In 1980, a site in Constitution Gardens, near the Lincoln Memorial, was set aside for it.
A Student’s Simple Vision
The Fund held an open design competition. The rules asked for a design that was reflective and contemplative, fit its surroundings, included the names of those who died or remained missing, and made no political statement. By the March 1981 deadline, 1,421 entries had arrived.
The jury unanimously chose the design of Maya Lin, a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. Her idea was two long walls of black granite meeting at an angle, one end pointing toward the Lincoln Memorial and the other toward the Washington Monument. The polished stone would reflect visitors’ faces as they read the names.
Disagreement and a Middle Path
Not everyone loved it. Some critics felt the dark color, the below-ground setting and the plain style did not properly honor those who served. Some objections even focused on the designer herself, her age, her gender and her heritage, rather than on the work.
Instead of letting the project fall apart, the people involved reached a compromise. A realistic statue of servicemen and an American flag would be added nearby, while Lin’s wall would remain as designed. Ground was broken in March 1982, and the wall was dedicated that November.
The statue, known as the Three Servicemen and created by sculptor Frederick Hart, was dedicated on Veterans Day 1984. Its figures look toward the wall. Later, on Veterans Day 1993, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated to honor the women who served.
Names, Rubbings and Gifts of Love
Today the wall bears more than 58,000 names. (The exact total has grown over the years as names are added, so official counts differ slightly.) Directories near the walkway help families find a loved one’s panel.
Many visitors make a rubbing of a name. When the information kiosk is staffed, National Park Service staff and volunteers can help locate names and provide paper and pencil for rubbings.
Visitors also leave things behind: flowers, letters, photographs, medals, service caps, boots and even children’s toys. The National Park Service collects the items that will not spoil and keeps them in an archive, recording where each one was left. Some have been displayed at the Smithsonian.
“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”
— Psalm 147:3 (KJV)
A Lesson for Today
The Vietnam War divided many families and communities. Yet this memorial does not ask visitors to agree about the war. It simply asks them to remember the people. That may be its greatest gift.
Here are a few ways families can carry that lesson home:
- Honor people, even when opinions differ. We can respect someone’s service and sacrifice without settling every argument first.
- Look for the middle path. The memorial was finished because people chose compromise over walking away.
- Say the names. Ask an older relative or neighbor about someone they remember, and write their story down together.
- Make room for grief. Healing is not forgetting. It is remembering with love, and God meets us there.
Through every storm, we rise together, and sometimes the strongest step is simply standing side by side in remembrance.
Is there a veteran or loved one your family would like to honor this week, and how will you remember them?
Sources: National Park Service, “Vietnam Veterans Memorial“; National Park Service, “Vietnam Veterans Memorial Kiosk“; Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, “History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial” and “Frequently Asked Questions“; Trust for the National Mall, “Vietnam Veterans Memorial“; KJV Psalm 147:3.
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