The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is an
exceptional national park built in Ho Chi Minh City in honour of brave hearts,
who lost their lives during the Vietnam War. The name of the war heroes is
inscribed on the Memorial Wall.  The War
Memorial welcomed over 5.5 million people in 2021. The memorial is a symbol of the grit and sacrifice of the Vietnamese. The Vietnam War Memorial Day is
celebrated on March 29.

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Here is all you need to know about the
Veterans Memorial:

*The design for the memorial was determined
through a nationwide competition.

*Of the over 1,400 submissions, Yale
architecture student Maya Lin’s design was chosen by the committee.

*The War Memorial Wall was dedicated to
Veterans Day in 1982.

*The Memorial has two 200-feet-long walls
containing more than 58,000 names.

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*The names are listed in chronological
order by date of their death and begin and end at the origin point, or centre,
of the memorial where the two walls meet.

*The names begin and end at the
centre is meant to form a circle that marked the end of the war.

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*By including the names of all those who
were killed or went missing in the war, the memorial conveys just how overwhelming
the casualties were during this war.

*Visitors can see a reflection of
themselves in the names on the black granite walls, connecting the living to
those lost.

*The statue was unveiled on Veterans Day of
1984.

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*Artist Frederick Hart used patina to give
the bronze statue some colour variations.

*The servicemen depicted in the sculpture
stand seven feet tall upon a base that is one foot tall.

*The three figures represent a Hispanic
man, an African American man, and a Caucasian man. These are ethic groups that
were heavily represented in the war’s combat forces.

*The Vietnam Women’s Memorial statue was
unveiled on Veterans Day of 1993.

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*Former Army nurse Diane Carlson Evans led
the efforts to recognize the bravery of the nearly 11,000 women who
volunteered.

*Evans was the first woman in US history to
lead an initiative to create a national monument in Washington DC.

*Artist Glenna Goodacre composed a scene of
a “moment in crisis” to capture the range of emotions women faced in fulfilling
their duties.

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*The bandage on the wounded soldier’s face
is meant to help visitors see themselves as him, and connect with the comfort
and care women provided.