The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1982.

A little more than seven years after the end of the Vietnam War, the veterans of that conflict were honored by a new memorial, erected on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Memorial consists of three elements. The main portion, originally intended as the whole of the monument, is the Wall itself. It is a long, black structure, inscribed with the name of every American service-man or woman killed or missing in the Vietnam War. It was this original portion that was dedicated on this date in 1982. Later, some expressed the opinion that the Wall alone was not sufficient to honor the veterans of the war. In an effort to meet these concerns, two additions were made to the Memorial. The first was the Three Servicemen Salute, a sculpture by Frederick Hart. By placing a lifelike representation of soldiers near to all the names inscribed on the Wall, it added an effective visual element to the Memorial. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, a statue designed by Glenna Goodacre, was then added. Intended to honor the women who served their country in Vietnam, this third and final addition to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on Veteran’s Day in 1993.

Xpeditions
In Cultural Symbols and the Characteristics of Place (3-5), students prepare an oral presentation to describe the changes in a neighborhood over a period of years. They learn how their personal experiences influence their views of places and regions.

Another lesson of the same title, Cultural Symbols and the Characteristics of Place (6-8), explores the ways in which monuments, fortresses and other public structures provide insights into the distribution of peoples and their values, activities and available resources.

Students can use the Xpeditions Atlas (K-12) to locate maps of Vietnam, Washington, D.C. (where the memorial is located) or their home country or state.

ReadWriteThink
In Building Vietnam War Scavenger Hunts through Web-Based Inquiry (9-12), students read a book about Vietnam, as a whole class or in literature circles. Then, working in small groups, students adopt the perspective of members of a group involved in the war (e.g., soldier, nurse, doctor, photojournalist, TV reporter) and conduct Internet scavenger hunts to explore how that particular group was affected.

In Lights, Camera, Action...Music: Critiquing Films Using Sight and Sound (9-12), students view a scene from the Vietnam war film, "Good Morning, Vietnam," in which the visuals and the music contradict each other. They then use a scene analysis framework to explore why the director chose the setting, camera angles and music and what these choices do to create the scene's tone.