Honoring sacrifice in Vietnam: The wall and its history

What has become a treasured memorial to the sacrifice of troops in Vietnam was greeted with outrage when the design was unveiled in 1982.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall was a monument unlike others, one designed for a war unlike others, and for a country still torn over its meaning.

The design by then-student Maya Lin had none of the heroic notes of other war statues. It evoked no tales of honor. It told no story of the pride. It did not stretch tall, inspiring awe.

When eight jurors chose the design on May 6, 1981, the divided country immediately went to their respective corners, ready for a fight. People called it a monument to defeat. They said it was a degrading memorial, a guilty ‘wailing wall for draft dodgers.’

One magazine opined that it treated Vietnam dead like victims of a ‘monstrous traffic accident.’

On the other side, art lovers hailed the wall as innovative and sophisticated.

A compromise appeased veterans and critics when statues of soldiers were added. As it turned out, the bronze statues did add to the memory of the war, since it depicted the unique look of soldiers in that war, according to the New York Times.

When the memorial opened on November 13, 1982, the debate simply stopped.

Since then, the memorial has become the most visited in Washington, D.C., with more than 3 million visitors each year, all to honor the 58,000 men and women who gave their lives in Vietnam.