In
Washington D.C. Completed in 1982, built on a design by a Chinese American student, Maya Lin.
The "Wall", as it is affectionately called, is one of the great American monuments for many reasons.
First, and foremost it is a design of sheer power and emotional depth because of its depth .
It is literally sunk into the ground and as you walk to and around it you are drawn into it. Like the war itself the wall goes from a high spot to a low spot and then out again. The names of the dead are placed in the order that they fell, not by alphabetical order, which is more typical.
Second the wall is actually built of a black material that appears dark and foreboding from a distance, but is actually shiny enough to mirror your image when up close. That contradiction was essential to the design and has struck more than a few Veterans as a "perfect description" of how war is often misinterpreted.
When the contest for the memorial was held there was a large amount of public resentment to both pictures of the inital design and the fact that an Asian person had won the award. Veterans threatened to protest and/or destroy the memorial. When it was actually unvieled, so many people were moved to tears (if not struck dumb), the protest never materialized.
An artist who can see what is not there, who can picture something as it will be, how it will feel to be there
that is amazing to me. Lin knew that this simple design would have a powerful effect on people and would "surround them" with the names and give them the effect of being in the ground, "in country".
If you have not been to this place, my words and/or pictures cannot do it justice.
Some info from : www.Vietvet.org