Vietnam Veterans MemorialStop on Washington DC National Mall Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.The black granite wall cut into the ground lists the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died or remain missing from the Vietnam War. Maya Lin, then a 21-year-old architecture student at Yale, won the 1981 design competition against more than 1,400 entries, and the memorial was dedicated on November 13, 1982.The design was controversial at first; some critics wanted something more traditional. The Three Servicemen statue by Frederick Hart was added nearby in 1984, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial by Glenna Goodacre, showing three women caring for a wounded soldier, followed in 1993.The names are listed by date of death, beginning and ending at the center where the two walls meet, so the first and last casualties are side by side. A diamond beside a name means the death was confirmed; a cross means the person was missing when the wall was built. As you read, the polished stone reflects you and the trees behind you.Volunteers can help you find a name, and the Park Service collects and keeps the letters and objects visitors leave. Open around the clock.Stops on this tourWashington MonumentNational Museum of African American History and CuNational Museum of American HistorySmithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryNational Gallery of ArtUnited States CapitolUnited States Botanic GardenNational Museum of the American IndianNational Air and Space MuseumHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Smithsonian Institution Building - The CastleFreer Gallery of ArtJefferson MemorialWorld War II MemorialMartin Luther King Jr. MemorialKorean War MemorialLincoln MemorialVietnam Veterans MemorialWhite House EllipseWhite HouseLafayette Square