Military Love Affair

Summer being almost over, what Washington site is the biggest tourist draw? The stately Lincoln Memorial? The elegantly domed tribute to Jefferson? The severe and powerful Washington Monument? All are popular, scoring second, third, and fourth, respectively. The number-one attraction, however, is the dark, abstract, brooding Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial. More than three million people visited the memorial last year, according to June statistics from the National Park Service. Some visitors walk slowly back and forth in front of the polished black granite walls, thin triangles stabbing into the earth. Others pause to reflect or place transfer paper over one of the 58,000 gold-inscribed names, charcoaling it to the paper surface. Others stoop to leave flowers or written remembrances, like poems.

The popularity of the memorial reveals that Americans have finally grown to accept a war that tore them apart only 15 years earlier, underscoring the nation’s burgeoning love affair with the military. “In the immediate wake of Vietnam, we lamented over how bad we were,” says a Hill defense expert. “Then came reflection, then forgiveness, now celebration.”

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John McLaughlin

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Summer being almost over, what Washington site is the biggest tourist draw? The stately Lincoln Memorial? The elegantly domed tribute to Jefferson? The severe and powerful Washington Monument? All are popular, scoring second, third, and fourth, respectively. The number-one attraction, however, is the dark, abstract, brooding Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial. More than three million people visited the memorial last year, according to June statistics from the National Park Service. Some visitors walk slowly back and forth in front of the polished black granite walls, thin triangles stabbing into the earth. Others pause to reflect or place transfer paper over one of the 58,000 gold-inscribed names, charcoaling it to the paper surface. Others stoop to leave flowers or written remembrances, like poems.

The popularity of the memorial reveals that Americans have finally grown to accept a war that tore them apart only 15 years earlier, underscoring the nation’s burgeoning love affair with the military. “In the immediate wake of Vietnam, we lamented over how bad we were,” says a Hill defense expert. “Then came reflection, then forgiveness, now celebration.”