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xv, [1], 415, [1] pages. Illustrations. Cover has some wear and soiling. New Foreword by Jan C. Scruggs. Introduction by Howard K. Smith. Part One: 1985 and Beyond; Part Two: 1979-1980; Part Three: 1980-1981; Part Four: 1982 91; Part Five: November 1982, Epilogue, Roll Call of Honor, and Directory of Names. Recounts the inside story of the building of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and includes the names of the 58,000 Americans who lost their lives in Southeast Asia. Jan Craig Scruggs (born 1950) is a United States Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, and later founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Scruggs was the President of the foundation until 2015, when he retired. Joel L. Swerdlow is an American author, editor, journalist, researcher, and educator. His works include To Heal a Nation: The Story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, co-authored with Jan Scruggs, which became a 1988 NBC movie. His articles have been published in American newspapers and magazines, and international publications have translated his work into more than three dozen languages for international publication. For ten years, he worked as a Senior Writer and Assistant Editor of National Geographic Magazine, and was the lead writer for the Magazine's 1998-1999 Millennium series. Scruggs first raised the idea of a memorial at a local meeting of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). He proposed an obelisk 30 feet (10 yd) high, erected without government funds, with the names of the dead inscribed on it. Scruggs announced the formation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) on May 28, 1979, the start of Vietnam Veterans Week (a commemorative occasion organized by the VVA). He asked for and received permission from the Department of Labor for a week off to devote to his project. Scruggs soon quit his government job, spending 11 hours a day, six days a week running the VVMF. His wife, an administrative assistant for the Paralyzed Veterans of America, became the sole breadwinner in the family. CBS News weekend and weekday substitute anchorman Roger Mudd aired a report on the CBS Evening News on the fundraising effort. Mudd's report raised the VVMF's profile, and soon Scruggs was raising thousands of dollars (most of the donations in the $5 and $10 range). Chuck Hagel, then deputy administrator of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, became an early backer of the project, helping to steer even more donors the VVMF's way. John P. Wheeler III also saw the CBS News report. Wheeler, a Vietnam War veteran and attorney who led the drive to erect the Southeast Asia Memorial at the United States Military Academy (West Point), agreed to join the VVMF on a volunteer basis and help coordinate legislation, public relations and fundraising drive. Other graduates of West Point were crucial including Robert M Kimmitt, who later became the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Scruggs gives credit for success of the endeavor to the graduates of West Point who volunteered their services and advice. Over the next two years, Scruggs raised more than $8 million from private donors. He spearheaded the VVMF's legislative effort to get Congress to authorize the memorial and approve its location on the National Mall, and he shepherded the memorial's controversial design past the United States Commission of Fine Arts and other federal and local agencies. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled on November 13, 1982. In 1983, Scruggs received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given annually by Jefferson Awards for Public Service. 10th Anniversary Edition. First printing [stated].
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