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Background of the Original Vietnam Veterans Wall |  |
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| In the Aftermath of War, many concerned Americans wanted to look beyond the political controversy that shrouded the sacrifice of the Americans who served.On April 27, 1979 Jan Scruggs, an infantry corporal during the war, led a group of veterans in forming the Vietnam Memorial Fund, Inc. (WMF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a tangible symbol of the soldiers service to the nation. After Congress dedicated two acres of the National Wall in Washington, DC to the project in 1980, a jury of eight internationally-recognized designers chose the design of Maya Ying Lin, a 21-year old Yale University architecture student, from more than 1,400 proposals submitted. Lin's design proposed a chevron-shaped monument formed by two 250-foot walls of polished black granite; one wall pointing to the Wasington Monument and the other to the Lincoln Memorial. Because some veterans expressed concern that the design was unorthodox, the memorial planners agreed to add Frederick Hart's statue of the Three Servicemen at a laterdate. Dedicated in November of 1982, the Wall and the statue were offially accepted by President Reagan on November 11, 1984. |
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The concern about the monument's design proved unfounded.
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