Has anyone gone to the Vietnam Wall?

[Snuz]

http://www.virtualwall.org/index.html

[knowthill]

Yes I cried there in 1985.

[LindaT]

I was there in 1997. It was a very somber, yet peaceful experience.

[TLLOYD]

I been there.

It is a very sobering site, that wall. It starts out 2' high, and goes up taller than my brother (6'2") and back down to 2'.

58000 names on there. I picked a few random names and got graphite rubbings of them and framed all of them.

Also the 3 fiighting men statue is quite a site.

[SCIfor55+yrs.]

My wife and I went to see it in the 1980s. It was an experience I will never forget.

[gjnl]

NL and I were there in 1987. There were many small mementos left at the base, flowers taped beside names, and several people doing pencil rubbings of names. There is a disquieting peacefulness about the monument.

All the best,
GJ

[Eileen]

I was there a long time ago. It is a very moving structure, and I was able to find the name of a someone who went to my high school.

[addiesue]

Yes I was there last March. If you go, definitely listen to the story told by the volunteer or park ranger.

[medic1]

was there years ago when I was just starting high school. Made a big impression on us. We took rubbings from those who from our area. I still remember being there and the eery silence there was with so many people around.

[Donno]

I went in '94, about a year post injury. Looked up a couple of friends, pretty emotional time.

[addiesue]

Learn what the marks by each name symbolize It's very moving when you notice this.

[kate]

I go there every January when I'm in DC for an annual conference. Same with the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

We owe so much!

It's funny, but January is the best time for me to see these places. I'm glad there are hordes of schoolkids making the trip in the spring, and tourists all summer long, but I like to be there when it's empty and cold. You can go up to the house above Arlington where Robert E Lee's family & slaves lived before and during the Civil War and look right across the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial. A straight shot, 19th century American history in one glance.

The Wall is worth a whole afternoon . . . it just goes on and on, name after name after name in that frozen black granite until you can't stand it.

[Le Todd]

Yes, I visited and touched the wall as a child. Very moving.

[cheesecake]

I have been there 4-5 times. The first time we stumbled on it unaware that we were entering the Wall. It was night time and we took that particular path---very sobering moment to realize where we were.

I have a friend on the well---my first crush as a teenager.

Like Kate, I visit when few people are there--generally at night. Makes me think of the dark jungles, the silence and the unknown.

The area is ramped, I would encourage others to make the journey if possible.

[Patton57]

I grew up in the DC area and have been countless times. The experience is more powerful each time I visit.

I used to jog a lot in that area pre-SCI and always tried to run within sight of it just to take that second to reflect. It's just that kind of place.