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The Wall

Vietnam

6 Things You May Not Know About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

First unveiled on November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial remains an atypical war monument. Its main feature, a V-shaped wall inscribed with the names of over 58,000 U.S. soldiers killed during the Vietnam War, lacks heroic or patriotic symbols, and its polished black granite façade contrasts with the white marble statues and structures surrounding it on the National Mall. Nonetheless, it has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Washington, D.C., with over 4 million visitors in 2015.

1. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built without government funds.
Jan C. Scruggs, a wounded Vietnam War vet, studied what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return to the United States. Within a few years, he began calling for a memorial to help with the healing process for the roughly 3 million Americans who served in the conflict. After watching the movie “The Deer Hunter,” Scruggs apparently stepped up his activism even further, using $2,800 of his own money to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1979. Many politicians expressed their support, and the U.S. Congress passed legislation reserving three acres in the northwest corner of the National Mall for a future monument. All donations, however, came from the private sector. Bob Hope and other celebrities lended a hand with fundraising, and by 1981 some 275,000 Americans, along with corporations, foundations, veterans groups, civic organizations and labor unions, had given $8.4 million to the project.

2. A college student won the memorial’s design contest.
Having raised the necessary cash, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund next held a design contest. The guidelines stipulated that the memorial should contain the names of every American who died in Vietnam or remained missing in action, make no political statement about the war, be in harmony with its surroundings and be contemplative in character. Over 1,400 submissions came in, to be judged anonymously by a panel of eight artists and designers. In the end, the panel passed over every professional architect in favor of 21-year-old Yale University student Maya Lin, who had created her design for a class. “From the very beginning I often wondered, if it had not been an anonymous entry 1026 but rather an entry by Maya Lin, would I have been selected?” she would later write.

3. The memorial was originally quite controversial.
Many people commended Lin’s winning design, with a former ambassador to South Vietnam calling it a “distinguished and fitting mark of respect” and the New York Times saying it conveyed “the only point about the war on which people may agree: that those who died should be remembered.” But others lambasted it as an insult. Author Tom Wolfe called it “a tribute to [anti-war activist] Jane Fonda,” Vietnam veteran Jim Webb, a future U.S. Senator, referred to it as “a nihilistic slab of stone,” and political commentator Pat Buchanan accused one of the design judges of being a communist. Some critics even resorted to racially insulting Lin, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Eventually, a compromise was reached—against Lin’s wishes—under which a U.S. flag and a statue of three servicemen were dedicated near the wall in 1984. Nine years later, yet another sculpture was added of three women caring for an injured soldier. Not only did the controversy quickly quiet down, but the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has since become both widely praised and wildly popular. “It is still far and away the greatest memorial of modern times—the most beautiful, the most heart-wrenching, the most subtle, and the most powerful,” a Vanity Fair commentator wrote earlier this year.

Maya Lin

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

2016 Memorial Day

Will see tens of thousands of people converging on the National Mall in our nation's capital. Many will visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and its iconic deep-vee black marble wall bearing the names of 58,307 American casualties.

Largest per-capita Loss

Beallsville, Ohio (pop. 475) gained unwanted national attention between 1966 and 1971 by having suffered the largest per-capita loss of life in the Vietnam War. Six young men lost their lives in the war, a terrible and profound loss for this small town.

Highest State Casualties

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The state had 711 casualties -- 39.9 deaths per 100,000 people. Oklahoma had the second-highest casualty rate.

Highest High School Casualties

Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia sustained the largest number of Vietnam war casualties of any high school in the nation with 54.

The Marines of Morenci

They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

Robert Dale Draper, 19, was killed in an ambush.
Stan King, 21, was killed less than a week after reaching Vietnam.
Alfred Van Whitmer, 21, was killed while on patrol.
Larry J. West, 19 was shot near Quang Nam.
Jose Moncayo, 22, was part of an entire platoon wiped out.
Clive Garcia, 22, was killed by a booby trap while leading a patrol.

The Buddies from Midvale

LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam..
In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Three hallmark all-American days. Three more names to be placed on the The Wall

The First and the Last

The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956. His name was added to the Wall on Memorial Day 1999. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

First battlefield fatality was Specialist 4 James T. Davis who was killed on December 22, 1961.

The last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident.
Others list Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove and Danny G. Marshall as the last to die in Vietnam. These three US Marines Corps veterans were mistakenly left behind on Koh Tang Island during the Mayaguez incident. They were last seen together but unfortunately to date, their fate is unknown. They are located on panel 1W, lines 130 - 131.

The last pilot casualty in the country of Vietnam occured during the Embassy evacuation in Saigon, William C. Nystal and Michael J. Shea both died on the helicopter on April 30, 1975 approaching the USS Hancock in the China Sea (both are located at 1W, 124). The last pilot killed in the Vietnam war was Air Force helicopter pilot Second Lieutenant Richard Vandegeer who was killed on Koh Tang Island, Cambodia. This occured during the Mayaguez incident when his helicopter crashed on May 15, 1975. It is concidered the last combat action of the Vietnam War.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old..

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

The youngest Vietnam KIA is believed to be Dan Bullock at 15 years old.
The oldest person on the Wall is Dwaine McGriff at 63 years old.
At least 5 men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old.
At least 12 men killed in Vietnam were 17 years old.
There are 120 persons who listed foreign countries as their home of record.
At least 25,000 of those killed were 20 years old or younger.
More than 17,000 of those killed were married.
Veterans killed on their first day in Vietnam 997 (unconfirmed)
Veterans killed on their last day in Vietnam 1,448 (unconfirmed)
Number of Chaplains on the Wall -- 16 (2 Medal Of Honor)
Number of Women on the Wall -- 8 (7 Army, 1 USAF - 7,484 served)
There are 226 Native Americans on the Memorial.
There are 22 countries represented on the Memorial.
Most common name on the Memorial "Smith" with 667 veterans.
The most casualties for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 casualties.
The most casualties for a single month was May 1968, 2,415 casualties were incurred.

Sgt. Robert G. Davison of Muskegon, Michigan joined the Marine Corp at the age of 14. He had four years of service in the Marines when he was shipped to Vietnam at age 18. Robert was KIA on Dec 17, 1966 one day before his 19th birthday.

Corporal William T. Perkins Jr. of Sepulveda, California was a Marine combat photographer. He is the only military photographer to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was killed in action on October 12, 1967.

Corporal Thomas W. Bennett of Morgantown, West Virginia was a U.S. Army medic and was the only conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam war. He was killed in action on February 11, 1969.

The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

BUDDIES:
Steven E. Amescua and Anthony J. Blevins joined the Marine Corp on the buddy plan. Steven was KIA May 15, 1968 and Anthony was KIA August 23, 1968.

John A. Jensen and Charles D. Turnbough were buddies who graduated from high school together and joined the Marines together. John was KIA August 27, 1967 and Charles was KIA three days later on August 30, 1967.

BROTHERS:

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Brothers Charles and Philip Tank were both killed in Vietnam. Charles on April 19, 1969 Philip on September 12, 1968.

Brothers Kenneth and Paul Olenzuk were both killed in Vietnam. Kenneth on December 25, 1967 and Paul on August 10, 1968

Brothers Marlin and Norman Eversgerd were both killed in Vietnam. Marlin on March 19, 1967 and Norman on August 18, 1968

Brothers Bennett and Dennis Herrick were both killed in Vietnam. Bennett on March 25, 1968 and Dennis on August 02, 1970

Brothers Gabriel and Paul Trujillo were both killed in Vietnam. Gabriel on February 23, 1971 and Paul on November 04, 1971

Brothers Benjamin and Francisco Montano were both killed in Vietnam. Francisco on April 08, 1967 and Benjamin on May 15, 1969

Brothers James and John Rowden were both killed in Vietnam. James on March 05, 1966 and John on February 10, 1968

Brothers Michael and William Francis were both killed in Vietnam. Michael on September 30, 1967 and William on March 09, 1970

Brothers Robert and Steven Gaftunik were both killed in Vietnam. Robert on August 25, 1969 and Steven on March 27, 1968

Brothers Rudy and Stanley Sagon were both killed in Vietnam. Rudy on December 10, 1965 and Stanley on May 20, 1966

Brothers Robert and Phillip Wyatt were both killed in Vietnam. Robert on July 10, 1967 and Phillip on May 28, 1968

Brothers Samuel and William Nixon were both killed in Vietnam. Samuel on March 21, 1968 and William on May 8, 1968

Brothers Kirby and Lanny Hamby were both killed in Vietnam. Kirby on June 8, 1968 and Lanny on October 14, 1969

Brothers Jerry and Joseph Hailey were both killed in Vietnam. Jerry on July 24, 1966 and Joseph on May 14, 1967

Brothers John and David Banks were both killed in Vietnam. John on March 28, 1966 and David on April 21, 1969

Brothers George and James Wright were both killed in Vietnam. George on May 21, 1967 and James on May 31, 1969

Brothers Donald and Cordis White were both killed in Vietnam. Donald on March 5, 1967 and Cordis on September 18, 1969

Brothers Clyde and Edward Withee were both killed in Vietnam. Clyde on February 5, 1966 and Edward on October 6, 1970

Brothers Richard and Larry Land were both killed in Vietnam. Richard on May 18, 1967 and Larry on March 28, 1971

Brothers Robert and Harold Musselman were both killed in Vietnam. Robert on October 25, 1967 and Harold on March 3, 1969

Brothers David and Otis Morgan were both killed in Vietnam. David on January 20, 1969 and Otis on January 28, 1970

Brothers John and Dana Jensen were both killed in Vietnam. John on August 27, 1967 and Dana on April 17, 1969

Brothers Stephen and Stanley Barrett were both killed in Vietnam. Stephen on January 25, 1968 and Stanley on October 3, 1970

Brothers Steven and Randy Mathias were both killed in Vietnam. Steven on July 2, 1967 and Randy on June 18, 1968

Brothers Roger and Stanley Herrell were both killed in Vietnam. Stanley on November 1, 1968 and Roger on July 29, 1969

Brothers James and Kenneth Stutes were both killed in Vietnam. James on June 6, 1970 and Kenneth on July 5, 1967

Brothers Lane and Joseph Hargrove were both killed in Vietnam. Lane on April 21, 1968 and Joseph on May 15, 1975

Brothers Edmund and Michael Travis were both killed in Vietnam. Edmund on June 27, 1967 and Michael on June 7, 1968

Brothers David and Norman Evans were both killed in Vietnam. David on October 24, 1968 and Norman on November 24, 1970

Brothers Juan and Arthur Garcia were both killed in Vietnam. Juan on Nov 20, 1967 and Arthur on February 7, 1970

Brothers David and John Greeson were both killed in Vietnam. David on Nov 7, 1969 and John on July 22, 1968

Brothers Leonard and Byron McQuinn were both killed in Vietnam. Leonard on Sept 5, 1966 and Byron on Feb 24, 1969

Brothers Rodrick and Garland Whalen were both killed in Vietnam. Rodrick on October 1, 1966 and Garland on January 31, 1969

Brothers Marvin and Darwin Gordon were both killed in Vietnam. Marvin on September 17, 1967 and Darwin on March 24, 1968

Brothers Charles and Clifford Johnson were both killed in Vietnam. Charles on February 8, 1968 and Clifford on December 26, 1970

Brothers Budd and Charles Hood were both killed in Vietnam. Budd on February 28, 1967 and Charles on August 12, 1969

Brothers Wayne and Fred Traylor were both killed in Vietnam. Wayne on May 11, 1966 and Fred on June 12, 1969

Brothers Ronald and Thomas Kustaborder were both killed in Vietnam. Ronald on Feb 25, 1968 and Thomas on Feb 14, 1969

Brothers John and Harold Ritch were both killed in Vietnam. John on Nov 10, 1968 and Harold on Nov 12, 1971

Brothers Ronald and Edward Keglovits were both killed in Vietnam. Ronald on Aug 26, 1967 and Edward on Mar 30, 1967

STEP BROTHERS:
Richard Earl Sipes and Raymond Omer Kincannon were step brothers and raised together in Chula Vista, CA. They were both killed in Vietnam. Richard on Dec 29, 1966 and Raymond on April 1, 1968

FATHER AND SONS:

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. was killed June 08, 1956 his son Richard B. Fitzgibbon III was KIA September 07, 1965.

Leo Hester Sr. Died March 10, 1967 in a aircraft crash his son Leo Hester Jr. was KIA November 02, 1969 also in a aircraft crash.

Fred C. Jenkins Died April 2, 1968, his son Bert M. Jenkins was KIA April 28, 1969. (unconfirmed)

FATHER NOT ON THE MEMORIAL WITH SON:
Although both father and son served in Vietnam during the same time frame, the father is not on the Memorial. Lt. Rex Chrisman, US Navy, died of a heart attack while assigned on the USS Estes that was being serviced in Bangkok. The ship was waiting for its next maneuver to the China Sea. His son, PFC Rex G. Chrisman took his father back home for burial. Returning to Vietnam, Rex was killed a month later.

Number of living whose names are etched on the “wall” in error? TWELVE!

Names Added to Memorial: Since 1997 88 names of veterans who have died due to their wounds received during the Vietnam war have been added to the Wall. The latest names added are listed below.

Added 2005
Army PFC Thomas Joseph Conners
Army Sergeant Richard Edward Daly Jr.
Army PFC John Harold Berg
Army PFC William Ellis Browning

Added 2006
Army SP4 Bobby Gene Barbre
Marine Lance Cpl. George Bryant Givens Jr.
Marine Pfc. Hans Jorg Rudolph Lorenz
Marine Capt. Robert Patrick Rumley Jr.

Added 2007

Army SP4 Wesley Alvin Stiverson

Army Sergeant Richard Monroe Pruett

Navy Fireman Apprentice Joseph Gerald Krywicki

Added 2008
Army SP4 Dennis O. Hargrove
Marine Lance Cpl. Richard M. Goossens
Army SP4 Darrell J. Naylor
Marine Lance Cpl. Raymond C. Mason

Added 2009
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Enrique Valdez

Added 2010
Marine Cpl. Ronald M. Vivona
Army LT. COL. William L. Taylor
Army Sgt. Michael J. Morehouse
Army Capt. Edward F. Miles
Marine Lance Cpl. Clayton K. Hough Jr.
Marine Lance Cpl. John E. Granville

Added 2011
Army SPC Charles J. Sabatier
Army SPC Charles Robert Vest
Army Sgt. Henry L. Aderholt
Navy ETR2 Richard Lewis Daniels
Navy BT3 Peter Otto Holcomb

In Memory Day Since the war in Vietnam came to an end, there has been a growing sense among many veterans and their families that those who served in this nation's longest war have suffered and are continuing to suffer premature deaths related to their service. These deaths have been attributed to exposure to Agent Orange, post- traumatic stress disorder, and a growing list of other causes.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's In Memory Day program honors those who died as a result of the Vietnam War, but whose deaths do not fit the Department of Defense criteria for inclusion upon the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Every year there is a ceremony to pay tribute to these men and women who sacrificed so much for their country. The ceremony is held on the third Monday in April — In Memory Day.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain

that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble
warriors.

Please pass this on to those who served during this time.
Thanks (see you at the 50th God Willing)

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