Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) was established in 1979 by a group of Vietnam veterans in Washington, D.C. (See Vietnam War .) Member Jan Scruggs lobbied Congress for a two-acre plot of land in an area called Constitutions Gardens. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter (1924–; served 1977–81) signed the legislation to provide a site for the construction of the memorial. It would be located near the

Lincoln Memorial . More than three years passed before the memorial was built.

That same year, the VVMF announced a nationwide memorial design competition, open to any U.S. citizen aged eighteen years or older. Entries were judged anonymously by a panel of eight artists and designers who had been chosen by the VVMF. Out of 1,421 entries, the winner was an undergraduate student at Yale University. Maya Ying Lin designed the winning entry with the goal of creating a park within a park. The result of her vision is commonly known as The Wall.

The Wall consists of seventy separate granite panels, each 246.75 feet long and 40 inches wide. Each black granite panel is inscribed with names except for the four panels at the end, which have been left empty to allow for names to be added as needed. As of 2008, The Wall was inscribed with more than 58,000 names. Each name represents a member of the military who died in the Vietnam War (1959–75) or who is missing. Next to each name is a cross (for those confirmed dead) or a plus sign (for those missing). The plus signs can be turned into crosses if necessary.

The Three Servicemen

In addition to The Wall, the Vietnam Memorial includes a bronze, life-size sculpture designed and created by sculptor Frederic Hart. It is called The Three Servicemen and features three young, uniformed soldiers. The sculpture faces the wall, approximately 150 feet away. The Three Servicemen was unveiled in November 1984.