It was designed by Maya Lin, who was a Yale student, aged 20, when she submitted the proposal to a national competition. Critics attacked that plan for its abstract shape, dark colour, descent below ground level, absence of patriotic symbols, and for the fact that the US-born Lin was of Asian descent. Eventually a compromise resulted in the commissioning of a classical bronze statue of three soldiers that is installed across an expanse of grass from the black wall.
Today, the memorial is visited by more than 3 million visitors every year. Veterans and their families can be seen at all hours on the path that runs along the wall of inscriptions, taking paper and rubbing a crayon or pencil over the names of dead soldiers for keepsakes. He tracks the struggle to finance the project, and includes some of the many designs that were submitted to the open competition.
Reston discussed the unexpected success of the wall, and the ongoing controversies over monuments in the US, in an interview with The Art Newspaper. The guidelines for the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial specified that the monument not be political. Is that a realistic guideline for any historical monument? There were submissions. They are absolutely remarkable to go through in the Library of Congress. How artists tried to navigate that line of being effective without being political was quite fascinating.
Fitzgibbon III, who has a casualty date of Sept. This exception to the criteria was ordered by President Ronald Reagan. Those in the group of were added when the geographic criteria were enlarged to include people killed 95 servicemen outside the war zone while on or in support of direct combat missions and 15 servicemen who had subsequently died of wounds received in Vietnam. The latest names added in , brought the number of names on the black granite Wall to 58, The list included casualties from battle or hostile causes and those from accidental causes.
After a lengthy process of cross checking the lists and working with each branch of the military, the VVMF used its discretion in adding some names that had been overlooked, but which still met the criteria. The VVMF recognized that names might be added to the memorial after it was constructed and was gratified that DOD set up a mechanism to review individual cases of deaths some months or years after being wounded in Vietnam.
Names are added when it has been determined that a service member has died directly from combat-related wounds. Cancer victims of Agent Orange, and post traumatic stress suicides do not fit the criteria for inclusion upon the Memorial. Some have calculated that it would take another two or more entire Walls to include all the names in those two categories alone.
In addition, status changes occur when remains of missing-in-action MIA servicemen are identified, an ongoing process conducted by DOD. The cost of additional inscriptions is paid by the VVMF which has always been funded exclusively by private supporters. He wanted the memorial to acknowledge and recognize the service and sacrifice of all who served in Vietnam. Significant initial support came from U.
Senators Charles McC. Mathias, Jr. Warner Senator Warner launched the first significant financial contributions to the national fund raising campaign of Virginia.
It was a three and half year task to build the memorial and to orchestrate a celebration to salute those who served in Vietnam. On March 11, , the design and plans received final Federal approval, and work at the site was begun on March 16, Groundbreaking took place on March 26, The Gilbane Building Company acted as the general contractor, and the architectural firm of Cooper-Lecky Partnership supervised the construction. The Memorial wall was completed in late October and dedicated on November 13, , climaxing a week- long salute to Vietnam veterans.
The walls and landscaping were completed by November 1, On November 11, , all three units the wall, the statue, and the flag were combined. Department of the Interior and it became a national monument. No Federal funds were needed. There were four: 1. VVMF announced in October, , that the Memorial's design would be selected through a national design competition open to any U.
By December 29, , 2, individuals and teams had applied for registration forms. By the deadline of March 31, , 1, design entries had been submitted. All entries were judged anonymously by a jury of eight internationally recognized artists and designers, who had been selected by VVMF.
The winning design was chosen on May 1, The designs were displayed at an airport hangar at Andrews Air Force Base for the selection committee, in rows covering more than 35, square feet of floor space. Each entry was identified by number only, to preserve the anonymity of their authors. All entries were examined by each juror; the entries were narrowed down to , finally The jury selected Entry Number as it clearly met the spirit and formal requirements of the program.
They felt its open nature would encourage access on all occasions, at all hours, without barriers, and yet free the visitors from the noise and traffic of the surrounding city.
The judges included two landscape architects, two structural architects, an expert on urban development and landscape, and three sculptors. Paul D. Spreiregen served as competition professional adviser.
Once the name was located, visitors often made an etching or left a private offering, from notes and flowers to dog tags and cans of beer. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
On November 13, , veteran front-office official Kim Ng breaks several glass ceilings simultaneously when she is named General Manager of the Miami Marlins.
Ng is the first woman and first person of East Asian descent to lead a Major League Baseball front office, as well as On November 13, , a cell of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant commits a string of terrorist attacks across Paris, killing and injuring over Flowing mixtures of water, ice, pumice and other rock debris poured off the summit On November 13, , in the middle of a game at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Philadelphia 76ers center Darryl Dawkins leaps over Kansas City Kings forward Bill Robinzine and slam-dunks the basketball, shattering the fiberglass backboard.
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