Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the only major memorial in the United States capitol showing the names of the deceased. The other major memorials in D.C. are paeans to the politicans who put soldiers and civilians in the path of death and destruction or to the environments where the destruction took place. For example, the World War II Memorial echoes concrete bunkers and gun batteries. In contrast the Vietnam Memorial is an interactive experience where loved ones can come and remember those who actually sacrificed by leaving pictures, flowers, or flags and taking rubbings of their loved one's name.
