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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a national memorial located in Washington DC, honors members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for (Missing In Action) during the War.  The memorial consists of three separate parts: the Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The memorial was inspired by Jan Scruggs, an infantryman who served in Vietnam, and designed by Maya Lin.

The names inscribed on the Memorial Wall are of servicemen (and women) who were either Killed in Action or Missing in Action at the time the wall was built in 1982.  The names are listed in chronological order, starting at the apex on panel 1E and moving day by day to the end of the eastern wall at panel 70E.  The names start again at panel 70W at the end of the western wall which completes and return to the apex at panel 1W.  The wall contained 58,191 names when it was completed in 1993.  As of June 2010, there were 58,267 names, including 8 women.  Approximately 1,200 of these are MIA or POW; whose names are denoted with a cross.  The names of confirmed dead are denoted with a diamond.