Today marks the 25th anniversary the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a landmark that still holds a powerful message to some.
Mike Casavantes, a journalism professor and U.S. Army veteran, said it was difficult to describe his emotions when he stood in front of the memorial in 1985.
Casavantes, who teaches War & Mass Media at the Cronkite School, served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971 and was stationed in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970.
"One of the things that makes it so powerful is the starkness of it," Casavantes said about the wall. "It grabs at your soul, at least it did mine."
Jerry Schumacher, a Navy veteran from 1959 to 1963 and current employee of the Disabled American Veterans, said the memorial helps the country remember the lives lost.
"They are souls lost forever and without the wall, they would be further lost," Schumacher said.
The massive granite wall lists the 58,249 names of the servicemen and women killed as a result of the Vietnam War, said Bill Line, spokesperson for the National Parks Service.
To help celebrate the memorial's anniversary, all 58,249 names were read last Wednesday through Saturday, Line said.
Alexis Hodel, a kinesiology sophomore, said she visited the wall when she was only 10 years old, but remembers her experience well.
"It was almost surreal and eerie," Hodel said. "I saw people scratch the names with a piece paper and I wanted to too, but I didn't know anybody (on the wall)."
The U.S. troop commitment in Vietnam increased throughout the 1960's and reached nearly 550,000 soldiers in 1969 before the war ended in 1975, according to vietnamwar.com.
Other memorials, like the World War II Memorial, are different because they are a place of commemoration and celebration, but the Vietnam Memorial is different, Line said.
"So many Vietnam vets felt mistreated and misunderstood as a result of the war," Line said. "It's a place of healing."
Some soldiers coming home from the war were spat on and called baby killers, Casavantes said.
"I remember one guy in our unit was ready to go home, but he was almost afraid of going back," Casavantes added.
Schumacher said he was surprised the wall was erected in 1982 after the harsh treatment the soldiers received.
"(I was in) utter disbelief," Schumacher said. "But the wall is a very, very good thing."
Hodel said the wall is in remembrance of the people that made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms at home.
And for veterans like Casavantes, the names on the wall have a meaning that is personal, he said.
"They died for each other," he said.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.mitchell@asu.edu.
