Remembering Sacrifices: Understanding the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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“In memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice”(“Vietnam War in Memory”). This simple inscription stands at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in recognition of the names who are not able to join the walls with their fellow soldiers. The memorial as a whole contains the names of deceased Vietnam veterans, and stands tall for people to view and remember their friends and relatives who fought diligently in the war. However, Maya Lou’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a very controversial piece of art because of the public image towards the war, the making of the memorial and the powerful message represented in the work. First, even though the Vietnam war …show more content…

According to “The Wall-USA”, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial organization was originally started by “Jan Scruggs, who served in Vietnam (in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade) from 1969-1970 as a[n] infantry corporal”. Being a wounded war veteran himself, once Scruggs got back stateside he began studying PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, and wanted to create a memorial for those who have fallen in order to make the transition easier for other veterans. Needing a place for the memorial, Scruggs lobbied for a land near the Rose Gardens and was granted 2 acres on July 1, 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. Instead of using government funds for the memorial, Scruggs and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund raised almost nine million dollars from “...corporations, foundations, unions, veterans and civic organizations and more than 275,000 individual Americans.”(“The Wall-USA). After they had enough money to create the memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial group had to determine what design they would use, so they held an open contest in which applicants submitted their ideas to be judged anonymously. The only regulations in the contest were “...the memorial should contain the names of every American who died in Vietnam or remained missing in action, make no political statement about the war, be in harmony with its surroundings and be contemplative in character”(Greenspan). The designs that were submitted, were anonymous to remove any prejudice towards a candidate because of their nationality. Also, the designs were to be judged by a panel of eight judges consisting of various sculptors, structural architects, landscape developers, and landscape architects. Although more than 1,400 designs had been submitted, including designs by professional architects and designers, the panel of judges chose Entry Number 1026, the 20 year old Maya Lin’s design. The winning design received

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