Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Each of the walls is 246 feet and 8 inches long. They meet at an angle of 125.12 degrees. They point exactly to the northeast corners of the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The walls are supported throughout their entire length by 140 concrete pilings driven approximately 35 feet to bedrock. At their vertex the walls are 10.15 feet in height The variations in color and texture are a result of different finishing techniques, i.e. polishing, honing, and flame treatment.

The names of the first casualties appear on the top of East Panel 1 below the date "1959." The last casualties are listed on the bottom line of West Panel I above the date "1975." The names were arranged chronologically and typeset from a computer tape of the official Vietnam casualty list. There is a total of 58,209 names as of Memorial Day 1997.

Each name is preceded (on the west wall) or followed (on the east wall) by a symbol designating status. The diamond symbol denotes that the serviceman's or servicewoman's death was confirmed. The approximately 1,300 men whose names are designated by the cross symbol were in missing or prisoner status at the end of the war and remain missing and unaccounted for. In the event a serviceman's remains are returned or he is otherwise accounted for, the diamond symbol is superimposed over the cross. If a man returns alive, a circle, as a symbol of life, will be inscribed around the cross.

Approximately 2,500,000 people visit each year, making the Memorial the most visited site in Washington, D.C.