VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL

1. In 1979, Jan Scruggs was inspired by the movie “The Deer Hunter” to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Scruggs was a wounded veteran who was studying PTSD.  He started raising the funds and refused to accept taxpayers money.  Congress did donate two acres on the National Mall.  By 1981, the Fund had raised $8.4 million from over 275,000 donors.
2. A competition was held for the design of the memorial. Requirements included having all the names of the dead, blending into the environment, and encouraging contemplation.  1,400 entries were received.  The winner of the $20,000 prize was 21-year old Yale architecture student Maya Lin.
3. The Memorial was dedicated on Nov. 13, 2020. It originally had 57,939 names.  The death had to be due to the war.  This included missing in action.  Some of the deaths were due to animal attacks and snake bites.  If the death was unconfirmed, it has a cross next to it.  Over the years, 32 names have been confirmed to be survivors.  They cannot be removed, but names can be added.  Today the number is over 58,000. 
4. The first name is Dale Buis. Buis was an Army Major serving as an adviser.  He was visiting the base at Bien Hoa, 20 miles from Saigon.  He and other Americans were watching the movie “The Tattered Dress” in the mess hall when Viet Cong attacked the base and sprayed machine guns through the windows of the mess hall.  He died on July 8, 1959.  The last names are from the Mayaguez Incident on May 15, 1975.
5. There are 140 panels. One end points to the Washington Monument and the other to the Lincoln Memorial. 
6. People leave artifacts at the Memorial. These include letters, photos, medals, and dog tags. One person left a motorcycle.  In 2014, the Educational Center at The Wall was dedicated to display many of the artifacts.
7. In 1984, “The Three Soldiers” statue was unveiled. It was partly the result of criticism from conservatives that the Wall was not patriotic enough (some accused Maya Lin of designing a communist wall).  It was sculpted by Frederick Hart.  The three soldiers are Hispanic, African-American, and white.
8. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated in 1993. Army nurse Diane Carlson Evans pushed for it.  It honors the 11,000 nurses who served in Vietnam.  It was sculpted by Glenna Goodacre.

https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/24-things-know-when-visiting-vietnam-veterans-memorial

https://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vietnam-veterans-memorial

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_R._Buis