This year commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War which makes the unveiling of this exhibit in February 2016 a perfect tribute to honor these brave servicemen and women.
At first glimpse as you proceed up the escalator of the Harold Washington Library Center, the exhibit appears to be a massive shiny chandelier hanging from the third floor ceiling. In contrast, as you approach the top floor you learn that it is a work of art honoring the memory of 58,307 servicemen and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. It is at that moment when the impact of this 13 ft by 34 ft work of art causes monumental emotional sentiment.
"Above and Beyond" Vietnam Dog Tag Exhibit is on temporary loan at the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago. It is the third public space, after the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC and the portable Moving Wall, where all the names of U.S. veterans killed in the Vietnam War are listed and honored.
The exhibit is on loan from the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago where it debuted in 2001. The piece was created by military veteran artists Rick Steinbock, Ned Broderick, Joe Fornelli, and Mike Helbing, and was commissioned by the museum. It is reported that it took four years to replicate all the hand-stamped dog tags to create this work of art, and it is clear that the installation was completed with the respect and honor it truly deserved.
This exhibit is a powerful work of art and visually captures the complex nature of this 10-years war in the glimpse of a second. I got to share this experience personally with several of my favorite Vietnam Veterans and their wives in May 2016. It is a must see and is free to the public. The exhibit is scheduled to remain at the library until 2020.
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