Order of the names:

The Wall in Washington, DC has the names listed in the order of the date of death or when the person became missing. The earliest casualties are named on line 1 of panel 1 East, at the center of the Wall. The list of names goes down panel 1 East, then to the right to line 1 of panel 2 East. That sequence moves to the right to panel 70 East, at the east end of the Wall, which has one row of names of those killed on May 25, 1968. That date continues at the opposite end of the Wall, on panel 70 West. The names then continue to the right to panel 1 West, which is adjacent to panel 1 East.



Architect Maya Lin, the designer, wanted the Wall to tell the day-by-day story of the tragedy of deaths. She also specified that the end of the list of names be near the beginning, to show a closed circle, like a wound that is closed and healing.



Many persons classified as Missing In Action are listed on the last panel, panel 1 West, rather than on the day of the incident.



Some names are missing:

Inevitably, errors were made when the names of our Vietnam dead were compiled in preparation for the construction of the Wall. Some men who shouldn't be on the Wall were, while others who should have been were not. The first problem was corrected by deleting names from the Directory, but those names remain on the Wall itself (you can't "unengrave" granite). Over the years names have been added - some for men who died of wounds received, some for men whose names were missed in the original compilation.



However, even today there are men whose names rightfully should appear on the Wall but who are not there. Where possible, The Virtual Wall staff have documented these deaths, reported the omissions to the Department of Defense, and have placed them in a special index; they are the men who are

Missing From The Wall

