19821776 Club
Thousands of Vietnam veterans march to their memorial, and it is dedicated beside the Lincoln Memorial
Maya Lin's black granite walls, once called a "nihilistic slab of stone" by a Cabinet secretary, open with 57,939 names on them.
On November 13, 1982, thousands of Vietnam War veterans marched to a two-acre site beside the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated. The ceremony was the centerpiece of a five-day National Salute to Vietnam Veterans that began November 10 with a reading of names at the National Cathedral, followed by unit reunions, an entertainers' show, and a parade. Two black granite walls now carried 57,939 names of the dead and missing. A service at the cathedral followed the dedication…
