Editing Vietnam Veterans Memorial (section)

====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>