9/11 Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial Reflection

The class trip to both the 9/11 Memorial and the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial was not my first time visiting those places. I’ve passed by the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial frequently and glanced at it a few times, and I’ve visited the 9/11 Memorial on numerous occasions. I always have something new to think about when I visit the latter. Growing up and going to school a few blocks from the WTC buildings has given me a unique perspective on the incident. I was in Kindergarten when the planes struck and brought down the Twin Towers. My family had to stay at my uncle’s in New Jersey for over a week until we were cleared to come back to Battery Park City. I wasn’t quite old enough to fully acknowledge the catastrophe when it happened, but I’ve developed a deeper understanding of it as I grew older.

I truly appreciate the scale of the memorial pools and think that they represent the memory of the people and the buildings quite well. The fact that it’s a commonplace for hundreds of people to convene and experience the grandeur of the event and the memorial itself is very impressive. Looking at the memorial as a work of art, I always enjoy the texture and shine of the water, which to me looks like the facade of the Twin Towers themselves. The fact that the names of every person who died as part of the attacks are a part of the memorial evoke a sense of unity between all the mourning families and even others just admiring the memorial. Another noticeable aspect of the pools/fountains is that you can’t see the bottoms. From what I’ve heard this represents the idea of eternity, specifically how the event will never be forgotten. I wish we would also have had the chance to go to the museum there too as it’s equally as impressive, if not more.

The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial is quite different from the 9/11 Memorial in terms of size, media, and popularity. As opposed to two large, deep pools, this memorial consisted of a medium-sized wall of glass panels. The wall was inscribed with quotes and letters from soldiers, their family members, and military officials. The outstanding effect of this was a sense of reluctance. All of the inscriptions conveyed this feeling in their text, and it was exacerbated by the fact that there were so many and that the fonts were often small and difficult to read without proper lighting. Also this sense was heightened by my own fatigue and the fact that our class was the only group of people viewing the memorial. Despite this I still enjoyed the memorial and appreciated its differences from the 9/11 Memorial.