WHO FORMED THE IDEA OF THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL?
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was founded by Jan Scruggs, who served in Vietnam
(in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade) from 1969-1970 as a infantry corporal.
He wanted the memorial to acknowledge and recognize the service and sacrifice
of all who served in Vietnam. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF),
a nonprofit charitable organization, was incorporated on April 27, 1979, by a
group of Vietnam veterans (John Wheeler, Chairman of the Board for VVMF, served
in Vietnam as a captain at U.S. Army headquarters from 1969-1970; Robert Doubek,
VVMF project director, then executive director, served in Vietnam from 1968-1969
as an Air Force intelligence officer) in Washington, D.C. Jan Scruggs (President
of VVMF) lobbied Congress for a two acre plot of land in the Constitution Gardens.
Significant initial support came from U.S. Senators Charles McC. Mathias, Jr.
(on November 8, 1979, Senator Mathias introduced legislation to authorize a site
of national parkland for the Memorial) of Maryland and John W. Warner (Senator
Warner launched the first significant financial contributions to the national
fund raising campaign) of Virginia. On July 1, 1980, in the Rose Garden, President
Jimmy Carter signed the legislation (P.L. 96-297) to provide a site in Constitution
Gardens near the Lincoln Memorial. It was a three and half year task to build
the memorial and to orchestrate a celebration to salute those who served in Vietnam.
WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE MEMORIAL?
"The official name
of the Memorial is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It is sometimes referred
to as VVM or "the Wall". The figures are called "The
Three Servicemen". This is not a war Memorial but a Memorial to those
who served in the war, both living and dead.
WHEN DID CONSTRUCTION BEGIN?
On March 11, 1982, the design and plans received final Federal approval, and
work at the site was begun on March 16, 1982. Groundbreaking took place on March
26, 1982. The Gilbane Building Company acted as the general contractor, and the
architectural firm of Cooper-Lecky Partnership supervised the construction. The
Memorial (wall) was completed in late October and dedicated on November 13, 1982,
climaxing a week- long salute to Vietnam veterans.
WHEN WAS THE MEMORIAL COMPLETED?
The walls and landscaping were completed by November 1, 1982. On November 11,
1984, all three units (the wall, the statue, and the flag) were combined. The
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) officially transferred control of
the Memorial to the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and
it became a national monument. The now completed Vietnam Veterans Memorial was
accepted by the President of the United States on November 10, 1984
WHO PAID FOR THE MEMORIAL?
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) raised nearly $9,000,000 entirely
through private contributions from corporations, foundations, unions, veterans
and civic organizations and more than 275,000 individual Americans. No Federal
funds were needed.
WHAT WERE THE CRITERIA REQUIRED FOR THE DESIGN?
There were four:
1. be reflective and contemplative in character;
2. harmonize with its surroundings;
3. contain the names of those who had died in the conflict or who were still
missing;
4. make no political statement about the war.
HOW WAS THE WINNING DESIGN CHOSEN?
VVMF announced in October, 1980, that the Memorial's design would be selected
through a national design competition open to any U.S. citizen 18 years of age
or older. By December 29, 1980, 2,573 individuals and teams had applied for registration
forms. By the deadline of March 31, 1981, 1,421 design entries had been submitted.
All entries were judged anonymously by a jury of eight internationally recognized
artists and designers, who had been selected by VVMF. The winning design was
chosen on May 1, 1981. The designs were displayed at an airport hangar at Andrews
Air Force Base for the selection committee, in rows covering more than 35,000
square feet of floor space. Each entry was identified by number only, to preserve
the anonymity of their authors. All entries were examined by each juror; the
entries were narrowed down to 232, finally 39. The jury selected Entry Number
1026 as it clearly met the spirit and formal requirements of the program. They
felt its open nature would encourage access on all occasions, at all hours, without
barriers, and yet free the visitors from the noise and traffic of the surrounding
city.
WHO DID THE JUDGING OF THE DESIGN ENTRIES?
The judges included two landscape architects, two structural architects, an expert
on urban development and landscape, and three sculptors. Pietro Belluschi, architect;
Grady Clay, author; Garrett Eckbo, landscape architect; Richard H. Hunt, sculptor;
Costantino Nivola, sculptor; James Rosati, sculptor; Hideo Sasaki, landscape
architect; and Harry Weese, architect. Paul D. Spreiregen served as competition professional adviser.
WHAT WERE THE WINNING PRIZES?
Prizes totalling $50,000 were awarded to the winning designs. The designer of
the winning entry also received a commission to assist the Architect of Record
in developing the design for construction.
WHO DESIGNED THE (WALL) MEMORIAL?
The Memorial (wall) was designed by an undergraduate at Yale University, Maya
Ying Lin, born in Athens, Ohio in 1959. Her parents fled from China in 1949 when
Mao-Tse-tung took control of China, and she is a native-born American citizen.
She acted as a consultant with the architectural firm of Cooper- Lecky Partnership
on the construction of the Memorial.
WHAT WAS MAYA YING LIN'S CONCEPT OF THE MEMORIAL?
She wanted to create a park within a park - a quiet protected place onto itself,
yet harmonious with the overall plan of Constitution Gardens. The walls have
a mirror-like surface (polished black granite) reflecting the images of the surrounding
trees, lawns, monuments, and visitors. The walls seem to stretch into the distance,
directing us towards the Washington Monument, in the east, and the Lincoln Memorial,
to the west, thus bring the Vietnam Veterans Memorial into a historical context.
DOES MAYA YING LIN'S NAME APPEAR ANYWHERE ON THE MEMORIAL?
Yes, it does, along with the names of the officers of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund, architects, etc., on a panel at the apex of the curb along the top of the
Memorial.
WHO DESIGNED THE SCULPTURE?
In July 1982, VVMF selected Washington sculptor Frederic Hart, born in 1943,
Atlanta, Georgia. He was the highest ranking sculptor in the design competition.
His sculpture depicts "Three Servicemen" (also referred to as "Three
Fighting Men" or "Three Infantrymen"). Mr. Hart's slightly
larger than life-size sculpture was cast in bronze by Joel Meisner and Company
Foundry during the summer of 1984. A process called 'patina' produced a rich
variety of subtle color variations. The figures are young, wear uniforms, and
carry the equipment of war. The statues show the men as "emerging out of
the woods, looking vulnerable and alone". They look directly towards the
apex of the wall, located approximately 150 feet away. The figures were unveiled
on November 8, 1984. Mr. Hart received $330,000 for his work.
IS THERE A FLAGPOLE?
Yes. On October 13, 1982, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved the addition
of the flag staff and recommended that it be grouped together with the sculpture
to enhance the entrance to the memorial site. The American flag (which is 12'
x 18') flies from a 60' pole. The flag flies 24 hrs. 7 days a week in honor of
the men and women listed on the wall. The pole cost $18,000 excluding base. VVMF
paid for the flagpole from contributions it received from the American Legion.
At the base of the staff are the seals of the five military services: Air Force,
Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy with the following inscription going
around in full circle: THIS FLAG REPRESENTS THE SERVICE RENDERED TO OUR COUNTRY
BY THE VETERANS OF THE VIETNAM WAR. THE FLAG AFFIRMS THE PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM
FOR WHICH THEY FOUGHT AND THEIR PRIDE IN HAVING SERVED UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES.
On special occasions a POW/MIA flag is flown on the same staff underneath the
stars and stripes of the United States flag. Those occasions are Memorial Day,
Veteran's Day and POW/MIA Recognition Day.
HOW MANY NAMES ARE ON THE MEMORIAL?
With the addition of six names added in 2010 the total is now 58,272 names listed
on the Memorial. Approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing (MIA's, POW's,
and others).
THE FIRST KNOWN CASUALTY
Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956.
His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who has a casualty date of Sept. 7, 1965.
HOW WERE THE NAMES OBTAINED?
During and after the Vietnam war, the Department of Defense compiled a list of
combat zone casualties according to criteria in a 1965 Presidential Executive
Order. The Executive Order specified Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and coastal areas
as a combat zone. If the Department of Defense, acting in accordance with these
directives, considered an individual to be a Vietnam conflict fatality or to
be missing, his/her name would be included. The VVMF verified the Department
of Defense list, where possible, by cross-checking it against the casualty data
provided by the individual service branches. Each name was then verified by the
National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Service, in
St. Louis, Missouri. After computer processing, the names were checked manually
for errors.
HOW MANY NAMES HAVE BEEN ADDED SINCE THE MEMORIAL WAS DEDICATED?
Nine groups of names have been added since the Memorial was dedicated. In group
1 (1983) there were 68 names added, group 2(1984) 15 names, group 3 (1986) 110
names, group 4 (2001) six names, group 5 (2002) three names, group 6 (2003) six
names, group 7 (2004) ten names, group 8 (2005) four names, group 9 (2006) four names, group 10 (2007) three names.
The bulk of the names in the first group of 68 were Marines killed when their
R&R flight crashed in Hong Kong. (This exception to the criteria was ordered
by President Ronald Reagan.)
Those in the group of 110 were added when the geographic criteria were enlarged
to include people killed (95 servicemen) outside the war zone while on or in
support of direct combat missions and 15 servicemen who had subsequently died
of wounds received in Vietnam.
The latest names added in 2011, brought the number of names on the black
granite Wall to 58,272.
ARE THERE ANY CIVILIANS LISTED ON THE WALL?
No, the Memorial is dedicated to the 2.7 million men and women in the U.S. military
who served in the designated war zone.
HOW ARE THE NAMES ARRANGED ON THE WALL?
They are in chronological order, according to the date of casualty within each
day, the names are alphabetized. For the dead, the date of casualty is the date
they were wounded (received in combat) or injured (received in an accident);
for the missing, the date they were reported to be missing. The list starts and
ends at the vertex (apex), beginning at the date 1959 (with first two names listed
from the date of July 8, 1959) and the inscription (IN HONOR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN THE VIETNAM WAR. THE NAMES
OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND OF THOSE WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED IN
THE ORDER THEY WERE TAKEN FROM US.) on panel 1E and going out to the end of the
East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968),
then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth
(numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with the date of 1975 and
its inscription (OUR NATION HONORS THE COURAGE, SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION TO DUTY
AND COUNTRY OF ITS VIETNAM VETERANS. THIS MEMORIAL WAS BUILT WITH PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. NOVEMBER 11, 1982) at the bottom of 1W (last 18 names
listed are from May 15, 1975). Thus the war's beginning and end meet; the war's
complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's
open side and contained within the earth itself. Although 1959 is marked as the
beginning on Panel 1, East wall, a Captain (Army) Harry G. Cramer was killed
21 October 1957 during a training action. He is listed on line 78, panel 1, East
wall, which was added approximately a year after the Memorial was dedicated.
CRITERIA FOR NAMES ON THE WALL
Early in the effort to establish the Vietnam Veterans Memorial it was determined
by the veterans that the memorial would contain the permanent inscription of
the names of all who died or who remain missing in the war. The inscription of
the names was the sole mandatory criterion set by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund (VVMF) for designs entered in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Design Competition.
The list of names came from casualty lists compiled by the Department of Defense
(DOD).
NAME CRITERIA
DOD casualty lists were compiled during and after the Vietnam War according to
criteria set in Executive Order No. 11216, signed by President Johnson on April
24, 1965, designating Vietnam and adjacent coastal waters, within specified geographical
coordinates, as a combat zone. As hostilities spread, the combat zone was expanded
to include additional areas such as Laos and Cambodia in or over which U.S. forces
operated. DOD Instruction 7730.22, "Reports of U.S. Casualties In Combat
Areas," January 20, 1967, and March 20, 1973, provided that the casualties
to be reported were all those occurring within the designated combat areas and
those deaths occurring anywhere as the result or aftermath of an initial casualty
occurring in a combat area.
In February 1981, DOD supplied the VVMF with a computer database representing
the casualty list which included those known dead or missing in action. The
list included casualties from battle or hostile causes and those from accidental
causes. After a lengthy process of cross checking the lists and working with
each branch of the military, the VVMF used its discretion in adding some names
that had been overlooked, but which still met the criteria.
The VVMF recognized that names might be added to the memorial after it was
constructed and was gratified that DOD set up a mechanism to review individual
cases of deaths some months or years after being wounded in Vietnam.
Names are added when it has been determined that a service member has died
directly from combat-related wounds. Cancer victims of Agent Orange, and post
traumatic stress suicides do not fit the criteria for inclusion upon the Memorial.
Some have calculated that it would take another two or more entire Walls to
include all the names in those two categories alone.
In addition, status changes occur when remains of missing-in-action (MIA)
servicemen are identified, an ongoing process conducted by DOD. The VVMF works
in conjunction with DOD to determine name additions and status changes and
with the National Park Service which operates and maintains the Memorial. The
cost of additional inscriptions is paid by the VVMF which has always been funded
exclusively by private supporters.
WHAT ARE THE DATES ON THE WALL?
The first casualty names inscribed were Dale R. Buis and Chester R. Ovnard (this
name was a misspelling, it should have read Ovnand) were military advisors, killed
on July 8th, 1959 in Bienhoa, while watching a movie in the mess tent. The light
had been turned on to change the movie reel and that is when snipers opened fire.
The name of the movie was "The Tattered Dress", starring Jeanne Crain.
Although 1959 is marked as the beginning on Panel 1, East wall, a Captain (Army)
Harry G. Cramer was killed 21 October 1957 during a training action. He is listed
on line 78, panel 1, East wall, which was added approximately a year after the
Memorial was dedicated. 1975 was the year that the last 18 casualties (Daniel
A. Benedett, Lynn Blessing, Walter Boyd, Gregory S. Copenhaver, Andres Garcia,
Bernard Gause, Jr., Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove, James J. Jacques, Ashton
N. Loney, Ronald J. Manning, Danny G. Marshall, James R. Maxwell, Richard W.
Rivenburgh, Elwood E. Rumbaugh, Antonio Ramos Sandovall, Kelton R. Turner, Richard
Vande Geer) occurred on May 15th during the recapture of the freighter MAYAGUEZ
and its crew.
WHAT ARE THE STATISTICS OF THE MEMORIAL?
Each of the walls is 246.75 feet long, composed of 70 separate inscribed granite
panels, plus 4 at the end without names; the panels themselves are 40 inches
in width; the largest panels have 137 lines of names, while the shortest have
one; there are five names on each line, although with new additions of names,
some lines now have six; the walls are supported by 140 concrete pilings driven
approximately 35 feet (some are at 20 feet) to bedrock; at the vertex the walls
are 10.1 feet in height.
WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PANELS?
The numbers identify each panel when trying to locate a name. The numbers start
out from the center (apex) with number "1" along each wall and
end with the numbers "70" at the end of each wall.
WHICH WALL IS EAST, WHICH WEST?
The wall pointing to the Washington Monument is the East wall while the West
wall points to the Lincoln Memorial. There are "E's" and "W's" by
the panel numbers.
WHAT ARE THE DOTS?
These 1170 dots are used to help find a name and come in handy when one is looking
for a name on a large panel. Each dot marks ten lines. The dots are located on
the even-numbered panels. The system works except for Panel 1E. The inconsistency
is caused by the inscription at the top of the panel. The line indicator work
was done by Harold Vogel of Wood and Stone, Incorporated.
WHAT ARE THE SYMBOLS BY THE NAMES?
The diamonds and pluses (crosses) indicate whether a person is confirmed dead
(those who died in accidents are included) or missing/whereabouts unknown. The
diamond indicates a person's death was confirmed. The pluses (crosses) indicate
that a person remains missing and unaccounted for and in no way are meant to
be a religious symbol. A plus (cross) symbol can be easily turned into a diamond
if a person is declared dead (such as the return of their remains). A circle
(as a symbol of life) will be inscribed around the plus if the person comes back
alive. As of this time, no circle appears on the wall. On the West wall the symbols
precede the names, while on the East wall they follow the names.
WHAT KIND OF STONE IS THIS?
It is black granite from Bangalore, India, one of only three places in the world
(the other countries are Sweden and South Africa) that you could get this amount
of black granite in large sizes. Rogan Granite Industries was responsible for
obtaining the stone. It is used for the walls, safety curbs and walkways. The
lettering is light gray in color, the natural color of the abraded stone, which
contrasts sharply with the polished black surface, making it extremely legible.
WHERE WAS THE STONE CUT?
All cutting and fabrication were done in Barre, Vermont. The variations in color
and texture between the panels and the curbs and walkways are a result of different
finishing techniques, i.e. polishing, honing and flame treating.
HOW WERE THE NAMES CARVED?
The names were NOT carved by hand, but by a computerized typesetting process
(by Datalantic, Incorporated, Atlanta, Georgia) called photo stencil gritblasting,
developed by Larry Century, specifically for the Memorial, in Memphis, Tennessee.
HOW WAS THE PROCESS DONE?
The process is of a digitized typeface called Optima. It involves a film negative
at one-third in size from which an enlargement is made, a film positive (a stencil)
at full size. The next step is coating the granite, which has been polished,
with a photo sensitive emulsion, and the image is then transferred from the enlargement
to the stone in a process very similar to silkscreening. When this step has been
completed, the stone within the area of the letters is exposed and the remaining
surface is protected by the emulsion. The size of the letters is .53 inches,
and they are approximately .015 inches in depth. Inscribing of the names was
done by Binswanger Glasscraft Products. The inscribing of the additional names
(April and May 1986) was done by Great Panes Glasswork, Incorporated (based in
Denver, Colorado) with a coordinated effort by Cooper-Lecky Architects.
WITH WHOM CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH IF I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
MEMORIAL, OR TO GET A COPY OF THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL BROCHURE?
IF I CAN'T VISIT THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL, WHO CAN I CONTACT
TO HAVE A WALL RUBBING/TRACING OF A NAME DONE?
WHERE CAN I OBTAIN FURTHER INFORMATION ON SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE MEMORIAL?
Write or call to the following:
Mail Operations/Vietnam Veterans Memorial
National Park Service
National Capitol Parks-Central
900 Ohio Drive, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20242
(202) 426-6841 or (202) 619-7225 |
