Lin won a national contest to design the Vietnam memorial in 1981 when she was a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. Lin designed the memorial as part of a class project.

Lin won a national contest to design the Vietnam memorial in 1981 when she was a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. Lin designed the memorial as part of a class project.

Lin won a national contest to design the Vietnam memorial in 1981 when she was a 21-year-old senior at Yale University. Lin designed the memorial as part of a class project.

Maya Lin’s design of the Vietnam War memorial blazed a path in 1982. But other designers failed to follow. Accessibility statement Skip to main content. Democracy Dies in Darkness.

Vietnam veteran Verlin Maglitz of Jacksonville, Ill., takes a rubbing of those he fought with in Vietnam during his visit to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, Friday, May 25, 2012.

The absence of these names and, more broadly, remembering Southern Vietnamese soldiers’ contributions to the war, spurred Ngoc-Tran Vu to create 1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Commemoration Initiative.

A new memorial park opening at the state Capitol this month will honor the 790 Oregonians who died, and the more than 180,000 Oregonians who fought, during the 20 years of the Vietnam War.