Editing Vietnam Veterans Memorial (section)

===Memorial Wall===
The memorial is composed of two adjoining walls. Each wall is {{convert|246|ft|9|in}} long and is composed of 72 [[Gabbro|black granite]] panels that are polished to a high finish. Seventy of the panels on each wall are inscribed with the names of the men and women being honored.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/vive/faqs.htm |title=Vietnam Veterans Memorial FAQs |website=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Robbins |first= Eleanora I. |title= Building Stones and Geomorphology of Washington, D.C.: The Jim O'Connor Memorial Field Trip |year= 2001 |citeseerx = 10.1.1.124.7887 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= Kenneth |last= Rasmussen |title=The Post Could Have Better Explained Cracks in the Wall |type= Letter to the Editor |department= Opinions |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/15/AR2010101505528.html |access-date= October 16, 2010 |newspaper= The Washington Post |date=October 16, 2010}}</ref> The walls taper from {{convert|8|in}} tall at their extremities to {{convert|10.1|ft}} tall at the apex where they meet, their bottom edges descending below the level of the surrounding earth while their top edges stay level. As such, visitors walking the length of the memorial start at ground level, descend below it, and ascend back to ground level. This is symbolic of a "wound that is closed and healing" and exemplifies the [[Land art]] movement of the 1960s, which produced sculptures that sought to reconnect with the natural environment.<ref name="dupre">{{cite book| author-link= Judith Dupré|last=Dupré|first= Judith | date= 2007 | title= Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kUaAQAAIAAJ | location=New York | publisher= Random House | isbn=978-1400065820}}</ref> The stone for the 144 panels was quarried in Bangalore, India.<ref name=usgs>{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/stones/stops34-39.html|title=Building Stones of Our Nation's Capital: Walking Tour Stops 34-39|website=pubs.usgs.gov}}</ref>

One wall points to the [[Washington Monument]], the other to the [[Lincoln Memorial]], meeting at an angle of 125° 12′.<ref name=vvmf_history>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vvmf.org/About-The-Wall/history-of-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial/|title=History of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial|website=Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund}}</ref> Each wall has 72 panels, 70 listing names (numbered 1E through 70E and 70W through 1W), and two very small blank panels at the extremities.<ref name="vvmf.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vvmf.org/about-vvmf/FAQs/|title=Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund {{!}} Frequently Asked Questions|website=www.vvmf.org|access-date=November 26, 2017}}</ref> A pathway for visitors extends along the base of the Wall.

The names on the Wall, originally numbering 57,939 when it was dedicated in 1982, are listed in the chronological order of the dates of casualty.<ref name="vvmf.org" /> Additional names have been added throughout the years since: {{as of|2018|5|lc=on}} there were 58,320 names. The number of names on the wall differs from other counts of U.S. Vietnam War deaths.<ref>{{cite web|title=America's Wars Fact Sheet|url=https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf|access-date=November 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-15 |title=U.S. Military Casualties, Missing in Action, and Prisoners of War from the Era of the Vietnam War |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/electronic-records.html |access-date=2022-09-27 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref> Directories of the names and their locations are located on nearby podiums at both ends of the Memorial.

The memorial has had some unforeseen maintenance issues. In 1984, cracks were detected in the granite and, as a result, two of the panels were temporarily removed in 1986 for study. More cracks were later discovered in 2010. There are a number of hypotheses about the cause of the cracks, the most common being due to thermal cycling. In 1990, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund purchased several blank panels to use in case any were ever damaged; these were placed into storage at Quantico Marine Base.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ruane|first1=Michael|title=New cracks discovered in Wall at Vietnam Veterans Memorial|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705792.html|access-date=November 29, 2017|date=October 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Shannon|first1=Don|title=Vietnam Memorial Develops Thin Cracks : Veterans: The project's main fund-raiser starts a $1-million campaign to pay for unanticipated repairs. Who is at fault has yet to be determined.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-07-mn-238-story.html|access-date=November 29, 2017|date=February 7, 1990}}</ref> Two of the blank panels were shattered by the [[2011 Virginia earthquake]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The Vietnam Veterans Memorial – A Model Partnership on America's Mall|author=Jan C. Scruggs|url=https://vvmf.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/the-vietnam-veterans-memorial-a-model-partnership-on-americas-mall-by-jan-c-scruggs-esq/|access-date=November 29, 2017|date=January 20, 2012}}</ref>

====Names====
[[File:Names of Vietnam Veterans.jpg|thumb|One panel of The Wall, displaying some of the names of fallen U.S. service members from the Vietnam War]]
Inscribed on the Memorial are the names of service members who were classified as dead, missing, or prisoner. The list includes names of individuals who died due to circumstances other than ''killed in action'', including murder, vehicle accidents, drowning, heart attack, animal attack, snake bites and others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vvmf.org|title=Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund – Founders of The Wall|website=www.vvmf.org|access-date=November 26, 2017}}</ref> The names are inscribed in [[Optima]] typeface, designed by [[Hermann Zapf]].<ref name="dupre" /> Information about rank, unit, or decorations is not provided on the Wall itself.

Those who were confirmed as dead are denoted by a diamond shape next to the name, and those who are status unknown are denoted with a "cross" sign. When the death of one who was previously missing is confirmed, a diamond is superimposed over the cross. If a missing man were to return alive, which has never occurred to date, the cross is to be circumscribed by a circle.<ref name="vvmf.org" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Wall |url=https://www.vvmf.org/About-The-Wall/ |access-date=2022-09-27 |publisher=Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |language=en-US}}</ref>

The earliest date of eligibility for a name to be included on the Memorial is November 1, 1955, which corresponds to when [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] deployed the Military Assistance Advisory Group to train the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam]]. The last date of eligibility is May 15, 1975, which corresponds to the final day of the [[Mayaguez incident|'' Mayaguez'' incident]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nebula.wsimg.com/b71d0c3f7a0d70d83094e93ba3f1b39a?AccessKeyId=40BF9DADD4DFA613BDB8&disposition=0&alloworigin=1|title=The Memorial – The Wall}}</ref> The names are listed in chronological order, starting at the apex on panel 1E on July 8, 1959, moving day by day to the end of the eastern wall at panel 70E, which ended on May 25, 1968, starting again at panel 70W at the end of the western wall, completing the list for May 25, 1968, and returning to the apex at panel 1W in 1975. There are some deaths that predate July 8, 1959,<ref name="vvmf.org" /> including the death of [[Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr.]] in 1956.

There are circumstances that allow for a name to be added to the Memorial, but the death must be directly attributed to a wound received within the combat zone while on active duty. The determination of addition is made by the Department of Defense.<ref name="vvmf.org" /> In these cases, the name is added according to the date of injury—not the date of death.

The names of 32 men were erroneously included in the memorial, and while those names remain on the wall, they have been removed from the databases and printed directories.<ref name="vvmf.org" /> The extra names resulted from a deliberate decision to err on the side of inclusiveness, with 38 questionable names being included. One person, whose name was added as late as 1992, had gone [[AWOL]] immediately upon his return to the United States after his second completed tour of duty. His survival only came to the attention of government authorities in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|title=Survivied|url=http://www.virtualwall.org/ipanels/survived.htm|website=The Virtual Wall|access-date=November 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=On Memorial To the Dead, 14 Who Live|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/11/us/on-memorial-to-the-dead-14-who-live.html|access-date=November 29, 2017|date=February 11, 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Castaneda|first1=Ruben|title=38 Veterans Listed on Wall May Have Survived Vietnam|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1991/02/15/38-veterans-listed-on-wall-may-have-survived-vietnam/b19f5e4f-5011-4062-b342-f0f80255cbe5/|access-date=November 29, 2017|date=February 15, 1991}}</ref><ref name="AWOL">{{cite web |url=http://www.vvmf.org/141.cfm |title=Vietnam Memorial Fund: FAQs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405075316/http://www.vvmf.org/141.cfm |archive-date=April 5, 2012}}</ref>

There are eight women’s names included in the memorial—Eleanor Grace Alexander, Pamela Dorothy Donovan, [[Carol Ann Drazba]], [[Annie Ruth Graham]], Elizabeth Ann Jones, Mary Therese Klinker, [[Sharon Ann Lane]], and Hedwig Diane Orlowski. All were nurses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vvmf.org/topics/Women-in-Vietnam/|title=Women in Vietnam|website=Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund}}</ref>