"Above and Beyond" Dog Tags Exhibit

"Above and Beyond" - National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum

MANY DON'T EVEN KNOW THIS EXISTS

When visitors first enter the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, they will hear a sound like wind chimes coming from above them and their attention will be drawn upward twenty-four feet to the ceiling of the two-story high atrium.

Since November 11, 2010, the dog tags of the more than 58,000 service men and women who died in the Vietnam War hang from the ceiling of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago on Veterans Day. The 10-by-40-foot sculpture, entitled Above & Beyond, was designed by Ned Broderick and Richard Steinbock.

The tens of thousands of metal dog tags are suspended 24 feet in the air, 1 inch apart, from fine lines that allow them to move and chime with shifting air currents. Museum employees using a kiosk and laser pointer help visitors locate the exact dog tag with the imprinted name of their lost friend or relative.


“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale