Joe Henry Brown
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Morris Edward Williams
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Arthur Cyrus Morris Jr.
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The Vietnam memorial wall was founded by Jan Scruggs, who served in Vietnam in from 1969-1970. He wanted to recognized the service and sacrifice of all who served in Vietnam. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. , a nonprofit charitable organization, was incorporated on April 27, 1979, by a group of Vietnam veterans. "The official name of the Memorial is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It is sometimes referred to as VVM or "the Wall". The figures are called "The Three Servicemen". This is not a war Memorial but a Memorial to those who served in the war, both living and dead. On March 11, 1982, the design and plans received final Federal approval, and work at the site was begun on March 16, 1982. Groundbreaking took place on March 26, 1982. The Memorial wall was completed in late October and dedicated on November 13, 1982, climaxing a week- long salute to Vietnam veterans. The walls and landscaping were completed by November 1, 1982. On November 11, 1984, all three units the wall, the statue, and the flag were combined. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. officially transferred control of the Memorial to the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and it became a national monument. The now completed Vietnam Veterans Memorial was accepted by the President of the United States on November 10, 1984. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. raised nearly $9,000,000 entirely through private contributions from corporations, foundations, unions, veterans and civic organizations and more than 275,000 individual Americans. No Federal funds were needed. The criteria needed to build the wall had four, be reflective in character, harmonize with its surroundings, contain names of those who had died in the conflict or who were still missing from the war, lastly make sure that it made no political statement about the war. The wall was designed and made by Maya Yin Lin. An undergraduate at Yale. She helped with the architectural construction. Her concept of making the wall was that she wanted to creat a park within a park. The wall has a mirror like surface reflecting the trees and images near the wal. Her name appears on the wall as well with all the other people that helped. The actual sculptor was Frederic Hart. There are 58,272 names listed on the Memorial. Approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing. The walls are 246.75 feet long.
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