The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Ground breaking: March 26, 1982
Dedication: November 13, 1982
Designer: Maya Ying Lin
Architect: Cooper-Lecky Partnership
Material: Black granite from Bangalore, India
Length: each wall is 246 feet 9 inches (75.21 meters) long;
the total length of the Wall is 493 feet 6 inches (150.42
meters)
Height: 10 feet 3 inches (3.12 meters) at the center of the
memorial
Angle: 125° 12'
Density of granite: 210 lbs/cubic foot (3364 kilograms/cubic
meter)
Number of panels: for each wall, 70 separate inscribed
panels, plus 4 at each end without names
Panel dimensions: 40 inches (101.6 centimeters) wide, 3
inches (7.62 centimeters) thick, between 8 inches (20.32
centimeters) to 10 feet 3 inches (3.12 meters) tall
Number of lines per panel: 1 to 137
Number of names per line: 5 to 6
Height of letters: 0.53 inches (1.35 centimeters)
Depth of letters: 0.015 inches (0.038 centimeters)
Foundation: The granite panels are supported by 140
concrete pilings driven approximately 35 feet to bedrock.
Cost: Construction costs of the Wall totaled approximately
$4,284,000. The VVMF raised nearly $9 million in private
contributions in its quest to win support and build the
memorial.
The Three Servicemen Statue
Designer: Frederick Hart
Dedication: November 11, 1984
Material: Bronze
Height: 7 feet (2.13 meters)
Vietnam Women's Memorial
Designer: Glenna Goodacre
Dedicated: November 11, 1993
Material: Bronze
Paving stones: Carnelian red granite
Approx. Size: 8 feet by 15 feet (2.44 meters by 4.57 meters)
Approx. Weight: 1 ton (907 kilograms)
Trees: Eight yellowwood trees representing the eight
nurses (women) killed in Vietnam
Cost: Approx. $4 million
Number of entries in design contest: 317 (Goodacre was
originally runner-up)
Flagpole
Material: Bronze
Inscription: THIS FLAG REPRESENTS THE SERVICE
RENDERED TO OUR COUNTRY BY THE VETERANS OF
THE VIETNAM WAR. THE FLAG AFFIRMS THE PRINCIPLES
OF FREEDOM FOR WHICH THEY FOUGHT AND THEIR
PRIDE IN HAVING SERVED UNDER DIFFICULT
CIRCUMSTANCES.
Installed: Mid-1983
Emblems: Around the base of the flagpole are the emblems
of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.
Height: 60 feet (18.29 meters)
Ground breaking: March 26, 1982
Dedication: November 13, 1982
Designer: Maya Ying Lin
Architect: Cooper-Lecky Partnership
Material: Black granite from Bangalore, India
Length: each wall is 246 feet 9 inches (75.21 meters) long;
the total length of the Wall is 493 feet 6 inches (150.42
meters)
Height: 10 feet 3 inches (3.12 meters) at the center of the
memorial
Angle: 125° 12'
Density of granite: 210 lbs/cubic foot (3364 kilograms/cubic
meter)
Number of panels: for each wall, 70 separate inscribed
panels, plus 4 at each end without names
Panel dimensions: 40 inches (101.6 centimeters) wide, 3
inches (7.62 centimeters) thick, between 8 inches (20.32
centimeters) to 10 feet 3 inches (3.12 meters) tall
Number of lines per panel: 1 to 137
Number of names per line: 5 to 6
Height of letters: 0.53 inches (1.35 centimeters)
Depth of letters: 0.015 inches (0.038 centimeters)
Foundation: The granite panels are supported by 140
concrete pilings driven approximately 35 feet to bedrock.
Cost: Construction costs of the Wall totaled approximately
$4,284,000. The VVMF raised nearly $9 million in private
contributions in its quest to win support and build the
memorial.
The Three Servicemen Statue
Designer: Frederick Hart
Dedication: November 11, 1984
Material: Bronze
Height: 7 feet (2.13 meters)
Vietnam Women's Memorial
Designer: Glenna Goodacre
Dedicated: November 11, 1993
Material: Bronze
Paving stones: Carnelian red granite
Approx. Size: 8 feet by 15 feet (2.44 meters by 4.57 meters)
Approx. Weight: 1 ton (907 kilograms)
Trees: Eight yellowwood trees representing the eight
nurses (women) killed in Vietnam
Cost: Approx. $4 million
Number of entries in design contest: 317 (Goodacre was
originally runner-up)
Flagpole
Material: Bronze
Inscription: THIS FLAG REPRESENTS THE SERVICE
RENDERED TO OUR COUNTRY BY THE VETERANS OF
THE VIETNAM WAR. THE FLAG AFFIRMS THE PRINCIPLES
OF FREEDOM FOR WHICH THEY FOUGHT AND THEIR
PRIDE IN HAVING SERVED UNDER DIFFICULT
CIRCUMSTANCES.
Installed: Mid-1983
Emblems: Around the base of the flagpole are the emblems
of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.
Height: 60 feet (18.29 meters)
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Three Of My Combat Brothers And
Friends<>Please Visit Them At The Wall
Friends<>Please Visit Them At The Wall
 | |  | |  |
John Richard (Rick) Gregoire * Wheaton, Illinois
Raymond Horace Pike * Leavenworth, Kansas
Terry Lanier Alford * Pasadena, Texas
Raymond Horace Pike * Leavenworth, Kansas
Terry Lanier Alford * Pasadena, Texas
 | |  | |  |
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 | |  | |  |
It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
©Copyright 1970, 2005 by Charles M. Province
West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the
nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall. 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.
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, start of Tet, was
on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.
* The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 -
2,415 casualties were incurred.
For most Americans who read this they will only see the
numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those 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.
Click On The "Above And Beyond" Link For More Information
Song Is "More Than A Name On the Wall"
By The Statler Brothers
By The Statler Brothers
I've played a lot of roles in life; I've met a lot of men, I've done a lot of things
I'd like to think I wouldn't do again.
And though I'm young, I'm old enough to know someday I'll die, and to think
about what lies beyond, beside whom I would lie.
Perhaps it doesn't matter much; still if I had my choice, I'd want a grave
'amongst Soldiers when at last death quells my voice.
I'm sick of the hypocrisy; of lectures of the wise. I'll take the man, with all the
flaws, who goes, though scared, and dies.
The troops I knew were commonplace; they didn't want the war. They fought
because their fathers and their fathers had before.
They cursed and killed and wept. God knows they're easy to deride. But
bury me with men like these; they faced the guns and died.
It's funny when you think of it, the way we got along. We'd come from
different worlds to live in one where no one belongs. I didn't even like them
all; I'm sure they'd all agree. Yet I would give my life for them, I know some
did for me.
So bury me with soldiers, please, though much maligned they be. Yes, bury
me with soldiers, for I miss their company. We'll not soon see their likes
again; we've had our fill of war. But bury me with men like them till someone
else does more.
Although virtually all references to the author indicate "Unknown," the
International War Veterans' Poetry Archives has a listing for this poem.
According to that reference, it was authored by Fr. Charles R. Fink, a Catholic
Priest at St. Phillips Neris Church in Northport, New York. Fr.
Fink is a Vietnam Veteran and a former Sergeant with the 199th Light Infantry
Brigade and served in Vietnam from March 69 to March 70.
I'd like to think I wouldn't do again.
And though I'm young, I'm old enough to know someday I'll die, and to think
about what lies beyond, beside whom I would lie.
Perhaps it doesn't matter much; still if I had my choice, I'd want a grave
'amongst Soldiers when at last death quells my voice.
I'm sick of the hypocrisy; of lectures of the wise. I'll take the man, with all the
flaws, who goes, though scared, and dies.
The troops I knew were commonplace; they didn't want the war. They fought
because their fathers and their fathers had before.
They cursed and killed and wept. God knows they're easy to deride. But
bury me with men like these; they faced the guns and died.
It's funny when you think of it, the way we got along. We'd come from
different worlds to live in one where no one belongs. I didn't even like them
all; I'm sure they'd all agree. Yet I would give my life for them, I know some
did for me.
So bury me with soldiers, please, though much maligned they be. Yes, bury
me with soldiers, for I miss their company. We'll not soon see their likes
again; we've had our fill of war. But bury me with men like them till someone
else does more.
Although virtually all references to the author indicate "Unknown," the
International War Veterans' Poetry Archives has a listing for this poem.
According to that reference, it was authored by Fr. Charles R. Fink, a Catholic
Priest at St. Phillips Neris Church in Northport, New York. Fr.
Fink is a Vietnam Veteran and a former Sergeant with the 199th Light Infantry
Brigade and served in Vietnam from March 69 to March 70.
