On November 13th 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall, culminating a week-long celebration of Vietnam Veterans.

The simple V-shaped memorial is made of reflective black granite and lists the names of all 57,939 service members who died in the Vietnam War.

The memorial, which was designed by Maya Lin, lists the names in order of death, not by rank, as was common practice for memorials.

It is now one of the most popular attractions in Washington DC.

  1982, november thirteenth, vietnam, wall