Time Marches On

By Jan C Scruggs, Esq. www.FounderOfTheWall.com

I had started the effort in 1979 and we made good progress until the National controversy erupted in late 1981. People began denouncing the design as too modernistic. It was seen by many as an insult to the dead. One reporter even went so far as to call the design a “Black Gash of Shame and Sorrow”. One writer claimed that the memorial would be a little more than a place to rally future antiwar demonstrators.

This effort was on the verge of being scuttled. Some Members of Congress were committed to ending the effort, and the opposition was well organized and made aggressive moves to end the project. They found a way to have our construction permit withheld by the Secretary of Interior. It was only by a stroke of luck that an Army Captain went to the Department of Interior and demanded the permit. They caved. Days later, we began building a Memorial that has helped many veterans to heal their wounds, as was my vision from the start of the project.

Forty years is a long time. I recently made a trip to the Museum of the US Army at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. There, I was touched by an exhibit that focused on The Wall. My dream became a reality in November 1982. The Wall helped bring the nation together. The USA has always had a contentious political environment. I’m old enough to remember when John Kennedy was running against Richard Nixon.

1982 was a simpler time. President Ronald Reagan was a likable president who would soon ask the Russians to “Tear Down That Wall”. Michael Jackson’s explosive album “Thriller” was released. The AT&T monopoly came to an end. The average cost of a new house was $82,000. The average rent was $320. Gasoline was 92 cents a gallon. Life was pretty good. Or good enough for most Americans.

But in 1982, the Vietnam War was festering as a painful memory for America. Despite losing a staggering 58,000 troops, we did not prevail. B52s, Agent Orange, aircraft carriers and other advantages kept our military leaders hopeful, but the nation accepted that the North Vietnamese Army had defeated our allies. Some blamed the media, others blamed Congress.

Still others questioned the wisdom of going to war in Vietnam with energetic protests. Of course, the people hurting the most were those of us who had suffered from injuries including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The pain of losing a family member was felt by many. In Vietnam, the troops had simply done their duty as Americans. I was one of them and spent a year as a teenaged infantryman.

In 1982, I was right in the middle of a nationwide controversy surrounding a design for a national Memorial engraved with the names of those who lost their lives in the war. On March 26, we broke

Let’s all work to find ways to live together in harmony. Americans can work things out.

“In Vietnam, I was wounded in combat at 19 years old. I could not have imagined ten years later at the age of 29, I would come up with the idea to build a memorial to my fellow Vietnam Veterans. It would include every name of every soldier who gave their life for my country, America.”

- Jan C. Scruggs