I have visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.
several times, and I find it even more awe-inspiring than other more well-known
monuments around the country; although not as powerful as the Lincoln Memorial, I
certainly find it more fascinating than the Washington Monument. One particular reasons
that it stands out is because it is user friendly. The names of the veterans who gave
their lives in Vietnam are all there, and people can scan the names visually.
Many visitors choose to find and photograph or trace and transfer specific names of
people they knew, and the visit serves as a personal, spiritual way of honoring those
fallen friends. (I was happy to locate the name of a schoolmate's father who was killed
early in the war.)
The other reason I like the memorial is
because it is actually better to view it at night than during the day. The wall is lit,
though purposely dimly, and it can be visited 24 hours a day. I made a visit there well
after midnight on one occasion, and the quiet solitude fit the somber mood of the
memorial perfectly.
In addition to being highly popular
with visitors, it was ranked tenth on the "List of America's Favorite Architecture" by
the American Institute of Architects. The design received much criticism before its
completion--"a black gash of shame" and "a nihilistic slab of stone" were two famous
comments made by critics who desired a much more traditional, heroic, human pose. But
the finished product has generated a much more favorable response. Travelling replicas
of the memorial have also enabled many more people to view the VWM who who are unable to
travel to Washington to see it in person.
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