Above and Beyond

The exhibit is comprised of 58,307 dog tags, representing the American fatalities from Vietnam, all suspended from the ceiling. Arranged chronologically in order of death, each tag includes the name of a soldier, their respective military branch, and their date of death. The exhibit also includes one black dog tag to represent all those who died from conditions related to service during the war.

The exhibit was created by a group of veteran artists: Rick Steinbock, Ned Broderick, Joe Fornelli, and Mike Helbing. The exhibit took two years to create, as each dog tag was stamped by hand using a former military Graphotype machine. Above and Beyond was originally installed in the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum’s first location at 1801 S. Indiana Ave. in Chicago in time for the 2001 Memorial Day parade.

Over time, the museum expanded, dropping “Vietnam” from its name in 2010 and opening itself to art from veterans of all wars. In 2012, the museum moved to its current location in Portage Park but the new location could not house the Above and Beyond exhibit. In 2013, the exhibit was boxed away and remained in storage until 2016 when it was reinstalled at its current location in the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago’s Loop. The exhibit will remain at Harold Washington until April 2020.

The Pritzker Military Museum & Library worked with the National Veterans Art Museum and the Harold Washington Library Center to help contextualize the exhibit. While viewing the exhibit at Harold Washington, visitors can scroll through a collection of videos and photographs related to the Vietnam War, helping to provide background on the conflict which claimed the lives of those memorialized in Above and Beyond. Visitors can also use the touch screen to search through the list of Vietnam fatalities, and view photos of the soldiers represented by each tag.