Visit one of the most moving sites in Washington DC

in #ambulorbis6 years ago


Source: By U.S. Department of the Interior (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0 or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall honors members of the U.S. Army who fought in the Vietnam War. It pays tribute to all of them who were killed during the war or missing in action. There are three separate parts of this memorial, the Memorial Wall, the Three Soldiers, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

The Memorial Wall is 75 meters long, and its black granite walls have a mirror effect so when a visitor looks at the wall, he can see his reflection with the engraved names. This is done to symbolically connects present and past together. This Wall consists of over 58,000 names, and you can walk along the base of the Wall and search for the names of someone you maybe knew. You can see that with each name there is a symbol; a diamond for the dead, across for those whose status is unknown and if it happens that someone returns alive, there will be a circle by his name. Names are listed in chronological order, and at both entrances to the memorial, there are books with all the names on the wall with their position so you can quickly locate a name. There are volunteers available for help.
Next to this Wall is another memorial which represents three soldiers whose nationality is purposefully made, so it looks there is European American, African American, and Hispanic American. It seems that the Wall and these soldiers interact with each other, as they are looking at the names of their fallen comrades. The third part of this memorial is dedicated to all the women of the United States who served in the war, mostly like nurses. It is the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and you can see three uniformed women with a wounded soldier.

There are several ceremonies taking place here, and you can often encounter former members of the armed forces. It is a very emotional experience for both them and visitors.

When you visit this site, you can often see sentimental items near the wall and some visitors rubbing graphite pencil over a piece of paper placed over a name on the wall, as a memento of their loved ones. The memorial is open every day all day, and the entrance is free. Some rangers can answer your questions from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. This memorial honors the sacrifice of all who served army during one of the hardest wars in U.S. history and it is visited by over 5 million people each year. If you are touring in Washington, this monument is a must.

ambulorbis is a team of writers who want to walk the world and experience everything this amazing blue marble has to offer. If you'd like to support our efforts leave an upvote! Keep calm and steem on.

Today's author is Marija.

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