Vietnam War Memorial for Missed Class

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing your pictures and info--I had no idea that there was a Vietnam War Memorial here in California. I visited the one in DC and was incredibly moved, and it sounds like this memorial is poignant as well.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing your photos and letting me know there was a monument so close to home. I visited the Vietnam memorial in DC last summer. It was astounding.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your pictures. I visited the memorial in D.C. not long after it was completed and I still remember feeling overwhelmed by all those names on that beautiful wall. I know a few men who fought in Vietnam, some with regret, some who still wonder if it made a difference. What they do know is that a lot of good men lost their lives and that this memorial is a way of reminding us all that life is fragile.

[Anonymous]

I have never visited the wall but I'm wondering if it includes the names of the THOUSANDS of American soldiers and veterans that committed suicide either during or after the war. By some estimates, the number of Vietnam veterans who have committed suicide is now almost THREE times greater than the soldiers who actually died in combat. I think that reality speaks to the atrocities that the US military committed in Vietnam and the trauma that it caused in so many soldiers. It also speaks to the completely inadequate mental health services that veterans received (or didn't receive) when they came back home.

Here is a website that is dedicated to the memory of US soldiers who committed suicide.
http://www.suicidewall.com/suicide-statistics/

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

In response to a competition invitation while at Yale University, Maya Lin’s creation of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. was one of her earliest works as an architect. Her initial idea was to represent the pain of war. Thus, the Earth is pierced in Maya Lin’s design to represent the pain suffered by the dead and those left behind. The black marble was meant as a reflection opportunity for the living. The memorial later dedicated in Westminster mirrors with Maya Lin’s original design. It also incorporates her Civil Rights Memorial with its circular design.
The Vietnam War Memorial in Westminster, California--unveiled on April 27, 2003--contains black marble similar to the one in Washington, D.C. It does not, however, contain names of fallen soldiers on the black marble. It includes influences from Maya Lin’s Civil Rights Memorial such as the running water in the center in addition to the waterfall incorporated into the black marble. In the center of the memorial is also a huge censer that is reflective of an Asian tradition to honor the dead. It is customary to worship ancestors in the Asian culture by burning incense in a censer. The Vietnam Memorial in Westminster attempts to capture Maya Lin’s original design while integrating the culture of the Vietnamese community it attempts to honor.
edited by cfahey on 1/2/2015
edited by cfahey on 1/2/2015
edited by cfahey on 1/2/2015

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