Vietnam War Memorial

When word got out that a group of Vietnam veterans were intent on building a memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War through public donations, the newly formed VVMF found themselves scrutinized and the butt of jokes. On the CBS Evening News, Roger Mudd reported that the veterans organization, whose only concern had been about raising too much money, had gathered the grand sum of $144.50. A comedian on a network program made fun of Scruggs. The audience got a good laugh out of it.

Scruggs wrote "Our memorial had to be paid for by private contributions in a largely volunteer effort organized by people whose principal reward would be knowing they had honored those whom the nation managed to ignore." The VVMF discovered that many people, for many different reasons, would take a personal stake in the success of this cause by sending five, ten, or fifteen dollars.

Senator John Warner of Virginia donated $5,000.00 of his own money and helped raise another $50,000.00. Donations exceeded $8.4 million. Private donations were received by more than 275,000 individuals.

The site at the base of the Lincoln Memorial seemed perfect. The VVMF had to appeal to Congress to procure that site on the National Mall since it was Congress and Congress alone that could give it directly to them. The wheels for site selection were set in motion when Jan Scruggs appeared before a Senate subcommittee with a briefcase full of documents justifying the site on the Mall. The bill which granted the VVMF two acres at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, passed the Senate in just seven minutes on April 30, 1980.

On July 1, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the bill into law. The VVMF would then complete the remaining tasks of selecting a design for the memorial, which they did by use of a design competition, and setting contractural agreements and overseeing construction of the memorial.

The dedication to the memory of those who served was rewarded when on November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated.

Today, the VVMF collaborates with the National Park Service to conduct ceremonies at the memorial on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, to add those names of military personnel who are determined to have died as a result of their service in southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, to keep records of those listed on the Wall, and to maintain residual funds for the maintenance and repair of the memorial.

Set in the grassy park of Constitution Gardens, the Wall is neither prominent, grand, nor imposing. Rather, it is simple, thoughtful, and profound. It is a place to remember those who served during a turbulent time in American history. It is also a place for the nation to heal its wounds.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall contains the names of the 58,226 men and women1 who were killed and remain missing from that war. The names are etched on black granite panels that compose the Wall. The panels are arranged into two arms, extending from a central point to form a wide angle. Each arm points to either the Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial in the distance to bring the Vietnam Memorial into an historical context on the National Mall.

The Wall is built into the earth, below ground level. The area within the Wall's angle has been contoured to form a gentle sloped approach towards the center of the Wall. While entering the memorial at ground level from either end of its arms, the descent to the center reveals more and more of the Wall until it towers more that ten feet above the walkway. At the center, within the protection of the arms of the memorial and surrounded by the grassy slope, is a place of quiet, calmness, and serenity.

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