New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2007.

Vietnam Memorial (Letter - "Why Didn't You Come Home?")

Artist Salvatore (Sal) Lopes (American, b. 1943)

DateNovember 1986

MediumCibachrome print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 8 1/2 x 12 7/8 in. (21.6 x 32.7 cm)
Overall, Support: 10 15/16 × 14 in. (27.8 × 35.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 15 15/16 × 20 in. (40.5 × 50.8 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineGift of the artist

Object number91.34

Terms

Vietnam War
Washington, DC
Washington, D.C.

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a cibachrome print photograph. A loose leaf sheet of paper, pinned on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall with a flower stem wedged through the crack, reads: "Damn you, brother - why didn't you / come back? I want you back, but not / in a box. I still love you, and I'd love / you if you came back in one piece [], or / your arms or legs or mind gone. I wasn't / that young when you died because I / cried too. God has you now but I want / you too, so damn you for not com- / ing back." Names of fallen soldiers are visible in the background.