Maya Ying Lin Memorial Summary

Imagine arriving back home after fighting in a foreign war and being spat on. All of the hard work and treachery that just ended with the war turned out to continue after it was over. During the 1960s-1970s, American soldiers fought in the Vietnam War. When the soldiers arrived back home after the war, they were looked down upon and were never truly honored for their dedication and sacrifice. Nearly 58,000 service men and women went missing or died in Vietnam, and were never properly honored until ten years after the war. In 1980, a competition was held to design a memorial to honor all of those who died or went missing during the harsh, foreign war. The winner of the design contest was a twenty-one year old young woman, named Maya Ying Lin. Even though she was only twenty-one years old, she won one of the most prestigious awards in American design history. In the non-fiction selection, “Always to Remember: The Vision of Maya Ying Lin,” by Brent Ashabranner, the title both represents never forgetting the dead and missing soldiers and how the young Maya Ying Lin’s vision influenced a memorial that would honor these soldiers forever. Each part of the title explains both the importance of remembering the fallen and representing a vision that became a reality. The author, Brent Ashabranner, personally had an interest to the Vietnam War Memorial, which is why he chose the first part of the title, “Always to Remember.” In the text biography about the author at the end of the reading, it states why the author appealed to writing the passage. It explained, “The subject of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial appealed to Ashabranner because, “It will make us always remember the hard fought war.”” Vietnam veteran’s great deeds of bravery were often left in the jungles of the battle ground, but Ashabranner wanted to make sure that they were “always remembered” for their sacrifice. The author felt strongly that Americans should always remember Vietnam because of his relation to the war, being a part of the Peace Corps at the time. Since the veterans were never properly …show more content…
Maya Lin had a very specific idea for the memorial. After visiting the National Mall in Washington D.C., she decided that she wanted to create a horizontal figure that embraced its spectators. The names would be engraved into black granite, so that visitors could reach out and touch the names of departed or missing loved ones or friends. By choosing black granite, the memorial would stand out from the other memorials in the Mall, while representing the connection between the dead and the living. She wanted the memorial to be unique and attract attention, yet didn’t want it to disturb the peace of the park. Lastly, she wanted the memorial to be a place where the dead and the missing could be remembered. This further explains Maya Ying Lin’s vision for the memorial because she describes in the text how she wants the memorial to look. It also describes how she wanted it to impact the people admiring it and how it should relate to the surrounding area. Lin wanted the memorial to remind people of the loss of the Vietnam War, but not take away from the peaceful feeling of the mall at Washington