Memorials: At the Wall

A Sense of Connection

I guided the past few days; my students were mid-westerners.

One student’s grandfather is on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall (VVM).

On Panel 6 West and line 5, it was way, way up — to high to reach.

He went around the Wall and laid down at the top to accomplish the tracing of the name.

It was an arresting moment of connection across generations.

Most memorials communicate their message visually; the VVM, because it is so personal, with the listing of those killed or missing, invites touch.

Touching adds a sensory dimension which is both simple and profound.

I invite students to touch the Wall, to feel the heat in the summer as the black marble absorbs the sunlight and the cool in the evening as the day ends; to slide their fingers from the smooth marble to the rough engravings of the names, each a life gone forever.

The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial is brilliant and stunning in its design and simplicity: it is the cost of war, personalized.

And now, we remember, as we ought, Chief Warrant Officer Gary Wayne Engelhardt, the center of our search.