Good and God Bless all who served
That statue is what? 25 years old, maybe 30?
Needing restoration of the type described after that short a time period (even in DC weather) is indicative of serious neglect, imho.
And I agree, the best time to see both the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials is at night. I used to have a GREAT poster of a picture taken at The Wall (can’t remember the photographer) during an Independence Day fireworks display. Shot down the length of The Wall from the Western end, the Washington Monument with the fireworks exploding around it were reflected on The Wall’s Eastern face.