The Wall

Gemma learned all about this memorial at school, so we took the opportunity to visit it. We started with the Ranger talk, which was very informative. We learned about its history and the fact that it was designed by a 21 year old architecture student of Chinese descent. It is shaped in a V. The names are all etched into granite and listed by date of KIA/MIA, starting at the middle (1959) and heading west, then starting again at the eastern end and meeting again in the middle at 1975. It is made of granite so it will last hundreds of years. People leave all sorts of things at the memorial (from flowers to Harley Davidsons and everything in between). One arm of the V is aimed at the Washington Monmument and the other at the Lincoln Memorial (you can see the former but not the latter).

It is also buried into a hill as part of the design to maintain the character of the site on which it was built.

The reflectivity of it is amazing.

People come and do rubbings of names or their relatives or comrades. Gemma is showing Sam here how they do this.

The line-up with the Monument.



Did I mention that it was really reflective?

Gemma suggested this photo, where you can see me taking the photo through the names.

The Memorial was controversial for a number of reasons, not least it being so different and unconventional compared to the others. Congress eventually interfered and had this sculpture added to the Memorial. There is no rank on any of the figures, one is African-American and another is Latino, representing the majority of US combatants in the war.