Viet Memorial: Artist Saluted

No war memorial so acutely touches the heart of the matter: These were men; they had names, and they died in a war. Their names can be touched as the ultimate reality they once lived. Not the flag raising at Iwo Jima, not the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, not even the battleground at Gettysburg--none of these come close to saying what needed and needs to be said.

The one who said it so perfectly is Maya Yang Lin, the 21-year-old architectural student who created the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. Yet in no recent reference to the memorial either in newspapers or on TV has this artist been mentioned! We are told that the model now being displayed was “created” by a nonprofit organization.

Without Maya Yang Lin, this heartbreaking memorial in replica would not exist. Surely no mention of the memorial ought to be published without paying homage to the sensitivity and creativity of this young artist?

HANNAH SAMPSON

Torrance