Vietnam Veteran s Memorials

The Wall, which quickly became one of the country'sThomas Chytrowski, is multifaceted: Its main feature is
most popular tourist attractions, spawned a nationalthe listing of the names and hometowns of 5.822
"urge to install reminders of the past," wroteservicemen and women killed or missing in action in
architectural critic Jane Holtz Kay in The New YorkVietnam. A series of bronze reliefs line the inner walls
Times in March 1989. The "memorialization ofof the memorial, which is configured in the shape of
America," as Kay put it, included tributes in granite andbroken concentric circles. Inside is a bronze figure of a
bronze to musicians, writers, athletes, politicians,combat soldier sitting on his helmet, cradling an M-16,
astronauts, and other revered figures.and looking up from a letter he is reading.
It also included an explosion of memorials built to honorThe imaginative Kentucky Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam veterans. "I came back from [the Wall'sMemorial-a 24-foot giant sundial whose shadow falls
dedication in 1982] dedicated to putting up a memorialon the engraved names of the 1,065 Kentuckians who
to our area service people," former VVA Chapter 79died in Vietnam on the anniversary of their deaths-has
president Ned Foote told The VVA Veteran. As wasbecome one of the state's most visited landmarks
the case in many areas of the country, Foote andsince it was dedicated on Veterans Day 1988.
other VVA members were instrumental in conceiving,Designed by Helm Roberts, the monument is located a
funding, and building a memorial-in this case, theblock from the State Capitol building in Frankfort. In
Adirondack Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which wasfront of the sundial, where the shadow does not fall,
dedicated at the Adirondack Community College inare listed the names of 22 Kentucky MIAs.
Glens Falls, New York, on November 2, 1986. FooteThe Oregon State Living Memorial is located in
echoes the sentiments of many of those involved inPortland on the grounds of the 12-acre Hoyt
building memorials when he says the dedication of hisArboretum in the shadow of Mount Hood in Portland.
local memorial was "the most moving experience ofDedicated on
our lives."Veterans Day 1987, the memorial consists of a winding
A survey released in November 1986 by the I Projectwalkway along which are scattered five alcoves
on the Vietnam a Generation uncovered 126representing different periods of the war. Besides
memorials to Vietnam veterans. The survey found thatlisting the names of the Oregonians who died in
27 of thememorials were put up before the Wall wasVietnam, the panels also tell stories of life in the state
dedicated; 61 were built in the three years after theduring each period. The memorial includes spacious
Wall's dedication; and 38 were scheduled to be built.lawns, a central outdoor room, and a final alcove listing
Today, more than seven years since that surveythe names of 40 Oregon-born MIAs.
came out, scores of other memorials have beenPerhaps the most famous of the hundreds of city
dedicated.memorials is the 70-foot-long, 16-foot-high, New York
It would take several issues of this newspaper toVietnam Veterans Memorial, a translucent glass block
describe the hundreds of memorials to Vietnamstructure containing etched excerpts from 83 letters
veterans that have gone up in the last 11 years. Sowritten by or sent to soldiers in Vietnam. The
what follows is a brief, selective look at some statehalf-million-dollar memorial, built with private funds, sits
and local efforts, many of which have involved thenear the southern tip of Manhattan Island. It was
active participation of VVA members.dedicated during two days of ceremonial events. May
You can find memorials to Vietnam veterans in all fifty6 and 7, 1985, that included a ticker-tape parade
states. There are eleven in Idaho alone, including thehonoring Vietnam veterans.
Vietnam POW/MIA Memorial, a sculpted bronze eagleAs part of its fund-raising activities, the New York
dedicated July 4, 1976. State memorials are in place orVietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, which was
in the planning stages in nearly all the states.set up in 1982, published Dear America: Letters Home
Ground-breaking for one of the latest, Hawaii's stateFrom Vietnam (Norton, 1985). That book was the basis
memorial for veterans of the Korean and Vietnamfor the memorable, award-winning documentary film of
conflicts, took place July 27, 1993, at the Hawaiianthe same name that appeared in 1988 on Home Box
State Capitol. What will be one of the most ambitiousOffice and in movie theaters around the country. Part
state memorials-the $5.6 million New Jersey Vietnamof the proceeds from that film went to the NY
Veterans Memorial in Holmdel- will be dedicated onVietnam Veterans Memorial Commission.
Veterans Day 1994.Another noteworthy city memorial sits in front of the
Perhaps the most celebrated state memorial isSan Antonio, Texas, Municipal Auditorium, not far from
California's imposing, 3,750-square-foot state edificethe Alamo. The memorial, known as Hill 881, was
that was dedicated December 10, 1988, across fromdedicated on Veterans Day 1986. It honors the
the State Capitol Building in Sacramento. A group ofmemory of the Americans who perished in a vicious
veterans, spearheaded by double-amputee Hermanbattle for that piece of real estate in April 1967. The
Woods, came up with the idea for this memorial inimposing, five-ton bronze statue of a soldier ministering
1983. The state legislature provided the land, and $2.2to a severely wounded buddy at the memorial's center
million was raised from the public.is the work of former Marine combat artist Austin
The California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, designedDeuel, who was a first-hand witness to the bloody
by Michael Larson (a Marine Vietnam veteran) andbattle.