It’s History by Fred Miller

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

BY FRED MILLER

Top image: This stamp, released in 1999, has the following printed on the back: “Designed by Maya Lin and dedicated on November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., displays the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the Vietnam War or are listed as missing.” Above: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the most visited monument in Washington. FORTY YEARS AGO, November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. was dedicated during a week-long national tribute to all veterans. The Memorial Wall, designed by Maya Lin, was dedicated to more than 58,000 Americans who died or were listed as missing in the Vietnam

War.

After the design was made public some people tried to block the construction of the wall claiming the V where the two walls meet were coded peace signs. They failed, and from the start, the public embraced the memorial. Today it is the most-visited monument in Washington.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is near the Potomac River between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The land around the memorial is grassy and open like a park. It is a place for people to remember

The United States Postal Service released this stamp in 1982 to honor of all the men and women who died in the Vietnam War.

Bruce M. Miley of OCNJ died on October 21, 1968.

the servicemen and servicewomen who died in the Vietnam War.

More than 2.7 million served in the war. These soldiers were very young. Many were only 19 years old. The average age of those listed on the wall is 22.

Visitors began leaving tokens of remembrances at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, while it was still under construction. Flags, medals, and flowers have decorated veterans’ monuments, but the presence of many other mementos is unique to this memorial.

Visitors have left more than 150,00 keepsakes. They are collected daily by National Park Service rangers and stored at the Museum Resource Center in Landover, Maryland. This unsolicited outpouring occurs year round, but particularly at Veterans Day, Christmas, Memorial Day, and July 4. The gifts also commemorate birthdays of the dead and missing veterans and other days of personal importance.

On the shining black wall are the names of six Ocean City servicemen: Willie E. Granger (Panel 49W, Line 4), John C. Martin (Panel 41E, Line 11), Bruce M. Miley (Panel 40W, Line13), Jon R. Morvay (Panel 28E, Line 56), Charles W. Sterling (Panel 4W, Line 98), and Robert A. Woodrow (Panel 23E, Line 8). Two men from Tuckahoe who went to Ocean City High School are William R. Godfrey (Panel 41E, Line 61), and George F. Long (Panel 63W, Line 18). The war in Vietnam came home to Ocean City on July 6, 1967 when Jean Woodrow, the mother of Pfc. Robert A. Woodrow, received a telegram from the Secretary of the Army. It informed her that her son had been killed in action on the Fourth of July.