The 9/11 and Vietnam War Memorials

This was not my first time going to the 9/11 memorial. I had visited when it was newly opened and you needed tickets to enter. This time was entirely different. I was immediately surprised at how many people were actually at the memorial. When we met up at the corner I actually thought it was just a park. The memorial itself was not what I expected I don’t really understand the concept of two black holes in the ground. Seeing the water descend into nothing inspires a somber mood, but not one that particularly made me remember those who lost their lives and how horrifying that day was. The fact that there was all these tourists around posing and smiling taking pictures really bothered me I feel as though the memorial did not do a good job of portraying its true purpose.

The Vietnam War Memorial was a completely different experience. When we got there, the sun was beginning to set and there was no one around. It really didn’t look like much at first but as I got closer i could see there was writing on the mural. This to me was the most important element of the memorial. There was a letter from a soldier to his girlfriend saying how he cant get the images of his friends’ gruesome deaths out of his mind. This was very powerful it made me think and appreciate the sacrifice of those soldiers.