Vietnam Memorial

Some of the terms that seem most important to Sturken, is the idea that memorials are built to honor those who died in situations that did not have a great outcome. Whereas monuments were constructed to also honor the dead and the living, but it was also to honor the accomplishment of victory. This idea seems very important to Sturken because she feels some designers do not make this distinction between the two terms. She is able to understand the differing of opinions in this field of sculpture and architecture; however the opinions voiced should be based on one’s true knowledge of the times they are structuring.

One important term to the people connected to the development of the memorial, is the term memorial and how others associate it. The developers wanted to associate a feeling of honor and remembrance towards the veterans and towards those who lost their lives. They may have not wanted to show any political statement, but it was engraved in their heads how they felt politically towards the war. Also one of the ideas that was important to them, was how the public would perceive the structure once it was built. The developers wanted to make sure the public was viewing this memorial in a positive light. However they should have known that the public would never complete understanding, they could only meet at a middle road.

Struken talked about the struggle that the designer (Maya Lin) had to deal with and work her way through. The public viewed Lin negatively because she was a young, Chinese-American student. The thought was that a “little girl” of her nature could not possibly construct any idea that would reflect the feelings that the Vietnam War posed onto people. Luckily the committee who first chose her Memorial design as the winner, did not know anything about her because the contest was anonymous while judging. If they might have known about her race, age, and gender, they may have decided to move on to another memorial entry.

Once it was announced that that she was the winner, even the developers handled her as she was a little girl, and hired the “big