The Vietnam Memorial Wall

Ed Rasimus writes:


YMMV. When I was there, the paper directory was dog-earred and
tattered. The unpainted plywood easel was distinctly makeshift and
seemed out of place. It looked like an afterthought and was definitely
"least cost provider."

Why can't there be an electronic kiosk? Touchscreen, alphabetical
query, returns graphic display showing location and panel
number...This isn't rocket science.

The Wall is not Rocket Science, either. Many, including me, feel it
is a statement to simplicity; something lacking in the war itself.

I can not imagine anything more jarring and out of place there than
a ...touchscreen.. display. After all, the war itself proved that
technology can't solve every problem.

I don't recall if the directory was originally furnished by the
NPS, or the volunteers. Now, as I recall, there are multiple
err podiums with the list protected by a glass shield.

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

I don't recall if the directory was originally furnished by the
NPS, or the volunteers. Now, as I recall, there are multiple
err podiums with the list protected by a glass shield.

I don't remember, either. I doubt Maya Lin came up with that solution.
(Maybe she didn't realize there was a problem! She was thinking of the
Wall as something to do with the country, whereas individuals who go
there are often thinking of it as having to do with other individuals,
whose names they know. This will of course be less true as time goes
on. If I went to Normandy, I wouldn't be looking for the grave marker
of any one person.)

I recall only the one directory, on the opposite side from the
statues. (Personally, I find the directory--paper or electronic--less
jarring than the statues, which really don't belong there. I'm with
Lin on that one.)

Her notion of arranging the names by date is actually a very powerful
one, especially to people like me who were in Vietnam (as a civilian,
in my case) early. By happenstance, I recognized the name of a
helicopter gunner, Ted Winowitz, whose name was at eye level where I
stopped, knowing that this was approximately 1964. (He was declared
dead in December, though the helo went down in June.) Looking at the
names above his was a very significant experience, knowing that very
likely I'd run across some others there but didn't know their names.

Incidentally, at least one name is out of order. The first American
serviceman now recognized to have been killed in Vietnam was Capt
Harry Cramer, a Green Beret, in October 1957.
www.warbirdforum.com/vanguard.htm

As the first, there was no room for him, so he had to be tucked in
where there was a blank, which was done in 1987.
all the best -- Dan Ford
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The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
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As far as the notion of electronic directories...

I had the occasion to visit my Uncles grave for the first time since
his burial. At Saratoga National they have an interactive terminal at
the welcome center. One can locate the gravesite by name, and other
ways, and then print a map of the cemetary. It made finding his site
very easy. It is also necessary as they are doing a very brisk
business with WWII vets passing away at a rate over 1,000 per day and
keeping up on paper would be impossible.

An electronic directory would be a plus at any of our monuments.

Just my 5 cents worth.

Jim