Design
The winning design is a long, black wall, in the shape of a V, with the
names of all the American soldiers killed in Vietnam. A few years after
the was erected, a more traditional statue of three GI's was installed near
the wall. The wall is constructed of polished black granite, and there is
a brick path where visitors walk, along with lights at the edge of the path
that shine up and illuminate the names carved in the panels.
The names are placed on the panels in order of their date of death. I found
it interesting that the designer choose to start the names (1959) in the
center of the V. The dates continue on panels going to the right, each panel
slightly shorter than the previous. At the extreme right end of the V, the
panels have shrunk down to 6 inches, and the names are from 1970. The panels
continue, without names, out to a point. From here, if you want to continue
the chronological progression of names, you have to walk back to the far
left end of the V. There the panels again start at a point, down low by
the path. The names begin again with "John H. Anderson, Jr." and
continue toward the center of the monument. As the left panels progress,
they get taller and taller, until at the center the panels are over 15 feet
tall. In the very center of the V, the end of the war (1975) meets with
the beginning. I guess that makes for some kind of closure.