Why?

为什么呢
If you go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

你要是参观了越战纪念碑
you'll understand the genius of First World War commemoration.

就会理解一战纪念馆的伟大精妙之处
The only thing that matters are the names.

那里唯一重要的是战死者的名字
The names are what matters.

那些名字才是重要的
The highly-polished granite surface of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

越战纪念碑上光滑的花岗岩表面
has your own reflection forced back upon you,

能够反射出人们的影子
to touch the names is the way to find a means,

抚摸那些名字也许可以找到一种方式
inadequate perhaps, symbolic perhaps,

也许并不足够也可能过于抽象化
to bring the dead back home, to bring them to the center of American history

但却能将死者带回家带回美国历史中心
in the middle of the Mall at the intersection

那个地方就在林肯纪念堂和华盛顿纪念碑
between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington memorial.

之间的林荫道上