# Maya Lin and Vietnam Veterans Memorial **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176 "2015-03-04T04:30:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/41 "2015-03-06T18:18:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Refer back to astorian’s and my last posts - there were a bunch of people who did not want a memorial to the dead but a “Dagnabbit, the hippies were wrong, it was a great and glorious effort!” monument; and a lot of people who thought minimalist modernism is just wrong for this sort of application. Do we have any “Go us!” monuments like that for wars we lost? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/42 "2015-03-06T18:23:19Z")
It’s not too early to wonder what would be an appropriate memorial for the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan dead. I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/43 "2015-03-06T18:24:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Refer back to **astorian** ’s and my last posts - there were a bunch of people who did not want a memorial to the dead but a “Dagnabbit, the hippies were wrong, it was a great and glorious effort, America #%\*$ yeah!” monument; and a lot of people who thought minimalist modernism is just wrong for this sort of application. You got it; this is exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/44 "2015-03-06T18:30:06Z")
Huh, when I think of “war monument”, my first thought is [this one](http://www.soldiersandsailors.com/). Which is too big and in too prominent a place to completely ignore, though to be honest I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually visited it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/45 "2015-03-06T18:30:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Do we have any “Go us!” monuments like that for wars we lost? All over the South, there are heroic “Yay us!” monuments for the Confederate dead. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/46 "2015-03-06T18:30:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s not too early to wonder what would be an appropriate memorial for the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan dead. I have no idea. We’ve [already got one](http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/gulf-memorial.htm) for GW #1. Apparently veterans want a [giant snail shell](http://www.nationaldesertstormwarmemorial.org/category/the-memorial/) for the proper memorial. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/47 "2015-03-06T18:35:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Do we have any “Go us!” monuments like that for wars we lost? This was the first memorial to a war that the US lost. The [Korean War Veterans Memorial](http://www.armedforcesreunions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Korean-War-Memorial.jpg)(to a war that ended in a stalemate instead of an outright victory) wasn’t completed until 1995. It’s very different from the Vietnam Memorial but is rather bleak with no sense of triumph. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/48 "2015-03-06T18:41:35Z")
Huh. I just tried to find a War of 1812 memorial and there apparently isn’t one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/49 "2015-03-06T18:42:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Huh, when I think of “war monument”, my first thought is [this one](http://www.soldiersandsailors.com/). Which is too big and in too prominent a place to completely ignore, though to be honest I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually visited it. The Civil War memorial in Washington DC (technically the U.S. Grant Memorial) is [properly](http://www.mycivilwaralbum.co.uk/Quickstart/ImageLib/DSCF0274.jpg) [triumphant.](http://civilwartalk.com/attachments/wash-cw-mon-jpg.39990/) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/50 "2015-03-06T18:44:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Huh. I just tried to find a War of 1812 memorial and there apparently isn’t one. [There is in Canada.](http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/property-management/what-we-manage/war-of-1812-monument) That’s because they won.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/51 "2015-03-06T18:49:35Z")
That’s why I was looking for that one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176/52 "2015-03-06T18:50:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Huh. I just tried to find a War of 1812 memorial and there apparently isn’t one. There are monuments to specific battles, such as the[Battle of Lake Erie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry%27s_Victory_and_International_Peace_Memorial). The USS Constitution is a monument of sorts in itself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maya-lin-and-vietnam-veterans-memorial/714176.md?page=2)