May
29
2017
The Wall
Posted in Discipleship 2 Comments
It is called the embraceable monument.
You can touch it.
You can rest your head against it.
You can cry on it.
The monument is open to the public 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
The monument is made of volcanic rock.
Whenever you look at the monument you see your own refection.
The monument lists the names of those who lost their lives in a war lasting almost 20 years.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled on November 13, 1982.
It is a V-shaped wall inscribed with the names of over 58,000 soldiers killed in the war.
It does not look like the other monuments on the National Mall.
There are no patriotic symbols; its black granite contrasts with the white marble so often seen.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built without government funds.
Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War veteran called for a memorial to help with healing.
In 1979, Scruggs gave $2,800 of his own money to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
Congress passed legislation to reserve three acres in the northwest corner of the National Mall.
All donations were from the private sector.
Celebrities, like Bob Hope, helped with fundraising for the project.
Corporations, civic groups, veterans groups, foundations, and labor unions donated.
By 1981, $8.4 million was given to the project.
A contest was held to come up with a design; strict guidelines were stipulated.
Every American who died in Vietnam or remained missing in action was to be listed.
There was to be no political statement about the war.
The monument was to be in harmony with its surroundings and contemplative in character.
Over 1,400 submissions were received.
A panel of eight artists and designers judged the anonymous submissions.
It was a 21-year-old Yale student named Maya Lin whose design was chosen.
She was anonymous entry number 1026.
In the beginning, the memorial’s design caused controversy.
The New York Times commented on the design.
The New York Times said that there is only point about the war on which people may agree.
Those who died should be remembered.
Names are still being added to the wall.
In order to be added, a deceased soldier must meet specific U.S. Department of Defense criteria.
Postwar causalities not eligible for inscription on the wall are honored with an onsite plaque.
About 1,200 names on the wall are listed as missing: MIA’s POW’s and others.
Artifacts are intentionally placed at the memorial each day.
Military medal, dog tags, POW/MIA bracelets, religious items, and photographs are left.
Rangers from the Park Service collect the items every day.
The items are brought to a storage facility in Maryland, which is not open to the public.
During the wall’s 30th anniversary celebration, every name was read out loud.
Volunteers began reading the names on a Wednesday afternoon.
Except for breaks between midnight and 5:00am, they did not finish until Saturday night.
In 1982, 1992, 2002, 2007, and 2012, every name on the wall has been read out loud.
Paper and pencils are provided at the memorial so visitors can make a stencil of a name.
It is very difficult to keep the wall clean and shiny due to the hands-on nature of the monument.
At one time, the wall was getting very dingy with bird droppings all over it.
The veterans got angry and did something about it.
In 1998, dissatisfied with the job that the National Park Service was doing and upset that bird droppings had filled in some of the engraved names, Jan Scruggs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund took action. He handed 37 toothbrushes to visiting vets from Wisconsin, who scrubbed the filth away.
Since then local veterans groups have offered to help with the maintenance.
The Park Service agreed.
Once every weekend a different veteran or community service group arrives at sunrise.
They come to wash every inch of the 247 foot wall.
The wall gets sprayed down, scrubbed by hand, and polished.
At its highest point, the wall is over 10 feet tall.
On Sunday, April 9 the Virginia and Maryland chapters of the Rolling Thunder arrived.
The members, mostly veterans, wore their motorcycle gear and got ready to scrub the wall.
As they arrived at sunrise, they had help.
The new Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke came to scrub along side them.
Zinke rode a horse to work on his first day and shoveled snow off the Lincoln Memorial steps.
The Rolling Thunders and the Interior Secretary were ready to work side by side.
6:15 am: hoses and buckets are waiting, courtesy of the Park Service.
6:27 am: hoses are carried to the spigots to connect them and begin the work.
6:31 am: wall and sidewalk are sprayed down with water.
Large brushes and soap are used to physically scrub marks from both surfaces.
The wall is rinsed with water and allowed to air dry.
6:43 am: Secretary Zinke climbs up on the wall to scrub the area along the top.
7:17 am: Secretary Zinke and the Rolling Thunder have scrubbed the entire wall.
7:27 am: a reporter asks Secretary Zinke why he came to the wall that morning at sunrise.
Rolling Thunder is here to wash the wall. I’m here to help them, he said.
Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shekaniah, the guard at the East Gate, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs opposite his living quarters. Next to him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the room above the corner; and between the room above the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs. (Nehemiah 3:28-32)
Nehemiah, who was a cupbearer to the king, had learned that the wall of Jerusalem was broken.
God put it on his heart to repair the wall.
Nehemiah asked for the king’s permission to leave so he could rebuild the wall.
Permission was given; Nehemiah set out to plan the rebuilding.
The wall was completed in 52 days because of the ingenious way it was rebuilt.
Nehemiah decided that each section be rebuilt by the people who lived right in front of it.
That meant that merchants, father, daughters, rulers, and priests worked side by side.
No one was better than anyone else; there was rebuilding to do.
I thought of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem.
The Interior Secretary and the Rolling Thunder worked sided by side to honor veterans.
A job needed to be done; a wall needed to be cleaned.
Those who died should be remembered.
Wouldn’t it be nice if in every town, every city, people worked side by side?
No mention of status or race; there is a job to do.
Rebuilding has to happen one job at a time.
Shoulder to shoulder, side by side we work together to get the job done.
7:40 am: tourists arrive at the shining, wet memorial.
Signs are posted on the sidewalk warning that the sidewalk is slippery.
The visitors walk along the wall.
They have no idea what took place 90 minutes before.
(Photo credit: Benny Johnson/IJR)
The Wall is breathtaking and a peaceful tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice
Kaye,
It has been years since I have walked along the Wall. My oldest son lives outside of D.C. If God allows, we plan to visit the Vietnam Veteran Memorial again this year. How grateful I am for the service and sacrifice of every person who died to secure our freedom.
Gina