As the sun reflects off the black granite wall, the Vietnam Veteran War Memorial casts a shadow of past selflessness and tragedy. "Never has a wall-a structure that divides-done so much to unite" (Howe 91). In 1981 a young girl named Maya Ying Lin was chosen, out of over one thousand submissions, to create a memorial that would soon become one of the most influential pieces of art in American history. Many soldier support groups and families were critical of Lin's monument and openly oppose it; however, there is a fallacy to their argument. The Vietnam Veteran War Memorial is a legitimate piece of art because of its success, despite the racial discrimination Lin has faced, and the poignant design of the wall.
According to Matthews, there are two halves of the wall, each reaching 246.75 feet long, with a combined length of 493.50 feet. Each segment is made of 70 panels. At their intersection, the highest point, they are 10.1 feet high and taper to a width of 8 inches at their extremities. The largest panels have 137 lines of names, and the smallest panels have but one line. There are five names on each line, with each of the names (and other words) being 0.53 inches high and 0.015 inches deep.
The Vietnam Veteran War Memorial serves as a remembrance of all the soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War, and their names are forever etched on its surface. It reminds us that over 58,000 American men and women left for Vietnam and never returned. Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is a tribute to the dead and missing of the Vietnam War. America's involvement in the Vietnam War was a very controversial point in history and still remains a quiet secret that no one cares to speak of. When soldiers returned home after serving in Vietnam they were scorned, spit upon, and looked down on. Instead of receiving a hero's welcome, they received nothing at all. The country stood as a nation divided: split between those who supported the war and those who did not. It comes as no surprise that Maya Ying Lin's design for the wall endured as much controversy as the war itself.
Maya Ying Lin was raised in Athens, Ohio, where her parents were both prestigious professors at Ohio University. Her late father was Henry Lin, a ceramist and dean of fine arts. Her mother, Julia Lin, taught English literature but is now retired. Both Henry and Julia immigrated to the United States from China to escape Communism before Maya Lin was born. Early on, Lin displayed a talent for mathematics and art. She was at the top of her class and after high school was accepted to Yale University in Connecticut.
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