Interesting Veterans Information From the Vietnam Memorial Wall

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. stands as a symbol of America’s honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War.

Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of 58,267 (including those added in 2010) men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. The Memorial is dedicated to honor the courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country of all who answered the call to serve during one of the most divisive wars in U.S. history.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

In one small section, Jack Dennis found three ‘Dennis’ names.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

Visiting the Wall

Vietnam Veterans Memorial is located north of the Lincoln Memorial near the intersection of 22nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW.

Visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial can be a very emotional experience for visitors. Please be respectful of others while you visit.

🔹To locate a name on the wall, use one of the catalogs available near the entrances of the memorial. The names are listed alphabetically by last name in the catalog. Each listing provides a panel number and a row number.

🔹To locate the name entry on the wall, look on the bottom corner of each panel for its panel number (e.g. 24W) and then count down the rows starting from the top. As an indexing aid, every other panel has pip marks on every tenth row to help users count the rows.

🔹Typically five names appear on each row (six appear where names have been added to the wall since 1982). Rangers and volunteers are often available to assist you.

Parking is available along Constitution Avenue. Be sure to read the signs for restrictions and time limits. Handicapped parking is available on the south side of the Lincoln Memorial.

Interstate 395 provides access to the Mall from the South. Interstate 495, New York Avenue, Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, George Washington Memorial Parkway, and the Cabin John Parkway provide access from the North. Interstate 66, U.S. Routes 50 and 29 provide access from the West. U.S. Routes 50, 1, and 4 provide access from the East.