[4] Negative reactions to Maya Lin's design for the Memorial wall were so strong that several Congressmen complained, and Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt refused to issue a building permit.

As the most highly ranked sculptor in the competition,[5] Frederick Hart was commissioned to create a sculpture to appease those who wanted a more traditional approach.

As Hart saw it, his task was "to preserve and enhance the elegant simplicity and austerity of the existing design" and "to create a sculpture which is in itself a moving evocation of the experience and service of the Vietnam Veteran.

These three figures were based on seven actual young men, of which two (the Caucasian-American and the African-American) were active-duty Marines when the sculpture was commissioned.

[10] Of the memorial, the sculptor Hart has suggested, I see the wall as a kind of ocean, a sea of sacrifice that is overwhelming and nearly incomprehensible in the sweep of names.

Noted sculptor Jay Hall Carpenter, Hart's assistant on the project, explains the sculpture was positioned especially for that effect: "We carried a full-size mockup of the soldiers around the memorial site trying many locations until we hit upon the perfect spot.