The Three Servicemen Statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial captures a full range of emotions. Taken as a whole, the statue symbolizes the spirit of compromise
and reconciliation. Like the the Vietnam War itself, the controversy over the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial divided America while inflicting deep wounds
among the veterans. The proposed design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial angered some Vietnam veterans and others who felt that it did not convey the heroism,
patriotism, and honor inherent in most war memorials. To them, placement of the memorial below ground level hid it from view, while its color further hinted at a
feeling of shame. They thought the memorial focused too much on death and loss. The Three Servicemen Statue was a compromise to that controversy, a
compromise that sought to continue the healing of a nation.
and reconciliation. Like the the Vietnam War itself, the controversy over the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial divided America while inflicting deep wounds
among the veterans. The proposed design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial angered some Vietnam veterans and others who felt that it did not convey the heroism,
patriotism, and honor inherent in most war memorials. To them, placement of the memorial below ground level hid it from view, while its color further hinted at a
feeling of shame. They thought the memorial focused too much on death and loss. The Three Servicemen Statue was a compromise to that controversy, a
compromise that sought to continue the healing of a nation.
| When Maya Ying Lin was a senior at the Yale School of Architecture, her design of the Vietnam Wall was chosen from among more than 1400 submissions, some by world renown architects. The choice was immediately controversial, not only because of the non-traditional design but because the designer was both a woman and an Asian-American. The design was called a "black gash of shame" and a "giant tombstone." The memorial is "a rift in the earth" (Lin) made of two black granite walls, each 246 feet long, angled at 125 degrees. One wall points to the Washington Monument, the other to the Lincoln Memorial. As a response to those who wanted a more traditional and heroic memorial, officials erected Frederick Hart's Vietnam Veterans statue visible in the image below. The controversy over Maya Lin's abstract design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial led to the inclusion of this figurative work, erected two years after the Wall's completion. This bronze work is in a grove of trees near the west entrance to the wall. Three servicemen, wearing the uniforms of the various military and naval branches, represent the racial diversity of the troops. |