Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a monument in Washington, D.C., that honors the Americans who served in the Vietnam War. The memorial, which stands on the National Mall, features two black granite walls that meet at an angle. The names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the war, or who remained classified as missing in action when the walls were built in 1982, are inscribed on the walls. The memorial also includes a large bronze sculpture of three servicemen, which was added in 1984, and one of three servicewomen, which was added in 1993. In 2004, officials dedicated a plaque that honors service members who died after the war from injuries suffered in Vietnam.
In 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) was formed to establish the memorial. The VVMF raised over $8 million through private contributions. It held a national competition to select a design. Maya Ying Lin, then a student at Yale University, designed the two walls. Each wall is about 245 feet (75 meters) long, and the two meet at an angle of about 125°. A walkway in front of the walls slants down from the ends of the walls to the meeting point. At the top of the slant, the walls extend only a few inches above the walkway. At the bottom of the slant, where the walls meet, the walls extend about 10 feet (3 meters) above the walkway. Visitors to the memorial can use directories to find the names of specific servicemen and servicewomen.
See also Lin, Maya ; Washington, D.C. (The Mall) .
