Jan C. Scruggs conceived of the idea to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and served President of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He is the author of To Heal a Nation: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Harper & Row, 1985).
The Healing Stone. A Shrine of Reconciliation. The Wall. America's Vietnam Veterans Memorial has been given many names.
During a visit to the Memorial you may see a grown man weeping. Or a young woman leaving flowers. Or a child piacing a poem near one of the names. These individual moments make the Memorial special.
America has other great and inspiring national memorials. But the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with nearly 60,000 names engraved on its black granite wall, is unlike any other. No other memorial so occupies a place in the heart and soul of the nation as does this simple, reflective wall.
The idea that led to the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memoriai began to develop in my mind while 1 was studying psychology in graduate school. America needed a memorial to the men and women lost in Vietnam in a war that many Americans preferred to forget. Such a memorial could help veterans and the entire nation recover from the Vietnam experience.
But in 1977 this was just the dream of one Vietnam vet - a college student with no money or political connections. In 1979, after I saw the movie The Deer Hunter, the dream became an obsession.
No one remembered the names of the people killed in the war. I wanted a memorial engraved with all the names. The nation would see the names and would remember the men and women who went to Vietnam, and who died there.
The creation, development, and construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ultimately involved two U.S. presidents, the U.S. Congress, hundreds of volunteers, a dedicated full-time staff, and hundreds of thousands of Americans who donated the nearly $9 million needed to build it.
At times, it seemed as though Divine Providence intervened. I remember agonizing how I ever carve so many names on the planned memorial. Then, unexpectedly, a young inventor came to our office. Larry Century claimed to have perfected a technique using photo stencils, which, with some developmental work, could do the job.
As often happens in Washington, politics nearly destroyed the Memorial. Powerful members of Congress rallied to stop the construction of what one Vietnam vet called a "black gash of shame". During an emotional meeting in 1982, the project was saved when Retired Army General Michael Davison suggested the addition of a statue to the Memorial site.
During the many difficult times that faced this historic enterprise, some great Americans helped make the Memorial a reality. These individuals include former Attorney General Elliot Richardson, former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, journalists Hugh Sidey and James Kilpatrick, as well as numerous members of Congress, especially U.S. Senators Charles McC. Mathias, Jr. and John W. Warner, and Congressman David E. Bonior.
The success of the effort is truly remarkable. Our primary objective - to provide a lasting acknowledgment of service and a welcome home to America's Vietnam Veterans - has been achieved. After the divisiveness of the Vietnam War years, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial now stands forever proudly on Washington's Mall as a symbol of our nation's resilience and unity.
For nearly four years, the photographers at the Smithsonian Institution documented the impact of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Their photographs illustrate the emotions that the Vietnam War continues to generate.
Author Herman Wouk once wrote: "The beginning of the end of war lies in remembrance". The Vietnam Veterans Memorial serves as a remembrance for all Americans, especially for the veterans of Vietnam. Like the Memorial itself, this is a book to be remembered.
Return To Reflections on the Wall Contents Page