What started as the dream of one man, soon became a reality
for a nation
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That dream belonged to Jan Scruggs a Vietnam Veteran who served with the 199th Light Artillery Brigade in 1969. Scruggs was in Vietnam for over a year, a year in which he was wounded and saw over half his company killed or wounded.
Scruggs’ goal was to provide a memorial for the American soldiers who had fought in the Vietnam War. Although he had no idea what the monument should look like, there was one main item that Scruggs envisioned and had to be included. His vision was that the name of each and every American that lost his life or was missing in action was remembered by having his or her name permanently engraved on the monument.
Having the dream was one thing, fulfilling it was another.
In the beginning, Scruggs was discouraged by many who said it couldn’t be done. But Scruggs stuck with his dream. He sold some land he had and using the advice of Robert Doubek, another Vietnam veteran, began the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Scruggs had decided the monument would be built with private money donated by Americans. He held a news conference on May 28, 1979 to announce his intentions.
After the media carried his story, letters began coming in, but only a few contained money. After a month the fund collected only $144.50. and jokes began to circulate around the country about the lack of support.
But other things began to happen. Most noteworthy is the involvement by John Wheeler, a Vietnam veteran and a Washington attorney who heard about Scruggs’ plight. Wheeler knew influential people in the business world, the military government, and the legal profession . With Wheeler’s help, the dream continued. Soon came capable volunteers, publicity, fund raising and valuable supporters in the corporate and professional worlds.
Many other things were needed before the wall could be built. This included several million dollars, the approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the signature of the President of United States. There still was no design for the monument.
After a vigorous campaign, approval was granted by Congress, and on July 1, 1980 President Jimmy Carter signed the bill. Public law 96-297 law stated the monument shall be constructed in Constitution Gardens, near the Lincoln Memorial. It also stated that “neither the United States nor the District of Columbia shall be put to any expense in the establishment of the memorial”. It also had to be started within five years and could not be started without enough money to complete the project.
None of these restrictions deterred Scruggs and the rest of the memorial fund committee. They set a completion date for Veterans Day, 1982. This allowed just slightly over two years for completion. A design still had not been selected.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund board of directors decided to hold a design competition open to all Americans. The design would need to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission.
1,421 entries were submitted from among the 2,573 registrants. The winning design was submitted by Maya Ying Lin, a 21 year old architecture student at Yale.
The design was quickly approved by both the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Although the design had the approval of many, there were still opponents who did not like the design and attempted to halt the construction. These opponents had powerful influence in Congress and the attention of James Watt, the Secretary of the Interior.
Many of the opponents felt that the monument was too abstract and should be more traditional. Things almost came to a halt, when General Michael Davison suggested making a statue of a serviceman part of the memorial. Opponents accepted the memorial with the addition of the statue and an American flag.
Despite all odds, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed on time and was dedicated as scheduled on Veterans Day, November 11th 1982.