Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Category: Memorial

Maya Lin was a 21 year-old architecture student from Yale University in 1981, when her design for a memorial to the veterans of the Vietnam War was chosen from more than 1,421 submissions. The Memorial Wall, which would become the centerpiece of the Washington D.C. memorial, consists of two black granite walls, each measuring just over 245 feet in length joined together in a “V” formation. At its nexus the wall stands over 10 feet high, tapering down to a mere 8 inches at its ends. Lin’s design was as controversial as it was unique. Some veterans felt the memorial was too cold an abstraction to honor the their fellow soldiers. Many expected a more traditional structure –a neoclassical monument or figurative statues at the least, and were disappointed at the memorial’s stark simplicity, which was felt to be shamefully reminiscent of a tombstone. A group of senators and congressmen sought to block its constructions and Ronald Reagan’s archconservative Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, initially refused to grant a building permit. At its dedication ceremony in 1982, both former presidents Carter and Nixon, as well as President Reagan were notably absent. In a conciliatory gesture, a bronze statue of three soldiers by Frederick Hart was placed near the Memorial Wall, which infuriated Lin. Adding a multicolor tint to lessen any further controversies, each soldier was cast deliberately as white, black and Latino. Despite this, the Vietnam Memorial is one of Washington D.C.’s most popular attractions, with over 3 million visitors each year.