Jan Scruggs

Founder and President
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund

In 1979, Jan Scruggs conceived the idea of building the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington , D.C. , as a tribute to all who served during one of the longest wars in American history. Today, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is among the most visited memorials in the nation's capital.

Scruggs was a wounded and decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, having served in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade of the U.S. Army. He felt a memorial would serve as a healing device for a different kind of wound—that inflicted on our national psyche by the long and controversial Asian war.

Scruggs launched the effort with $2,800 of his own money and gradually gained the support of other Vietnam veterans in persuading Congress to provide a prominent location on federal government property somewhere in Washington , D.C. After a difficult struggle, Congress responded, and the site chosen was on the National Mall near the Lincoln Memorial.

As president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Inc., the nonprofit organization created to build and maintain the Memorial, Scruggs headed up the effort that raised $8.4 million and saw the Memorial completed in just two years. It was dedicated on November 13, 1982, during a week-long national salute to Vietnam veterans in the nation's capital. 

After the completion of the Memorial, Scruggs, along with author Joel L. Swerdlow, put to paper To Heal a Nation—the moving story of Scruggs' efforts to build The Wall. In May 1988, it became an "NBC Movie of the Week."

Scruggs continues to lead VVMF as it enters a new phase in its mission to remember those who sacrificed in Vietnam : building the Education Center at The Wall. The Education Center will show the photos and tell the stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War, as well as celebrate the values embodied by American service members in all of our nation's wars.  

He has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline, Good Morning America and The Today Show as well as C-SPAN, CNN and FOX. He has written opinion articles for The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times,The Washington Times and other national and regional publications. A national speaker and author, Scruggs has written articles on a wide range of topics, including the Civil War and the battle of Gettysburg .

Scruggs is a native of Washington, D.C, and grew up in Bowie, Md.   He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from American University in Washington , D.C. , and his law degree from the University of Maryland , Baltimore .


Photo of Jan Scruggs by Warren Kahle

Hicksville Vietnam War Era Memorial

 

Fund Raising:  Since achieving tax exempt status for the Memorial Project  in October, 2014, donations currently are slightly over $4,700 against our goal of $25,000, so we are now a fifth of the way there.

To date, only 26 donors have accounted for the above amount and five of those accounted for over $3,300 or 71% of total donations.

If every reader could spare as little as $10 for this worthy cause, we would be well over our goal, with any overage going towards the needs of current wounded Veterans and their families in need.

Please remember that your donations are tax deductible.  We hope that future donations will achieve our goal and will represent a much broader cross section of HixNews readers, plus past and present Hicksville residents in general. 

The Memorial Team very much appreciates your generosity.  Donation checks should be made out to:

Hicksville Vietnam Era Memorial Project

And should  be mailed to:

Hicksville Vietnam Era Memorial Project
c/o William Walden
 245 West 9th Street
 Deer Park , NY 11729  

An alphabetical list of current donors appears at the end of this monthly update. 

One new name was added in February, bringing the Confirmed List of Names to a new total of 1,894.  Some progress was also made on filling in missing data for the Confirmed List, but no progress has been made on the Unconfirmed List of names.  We continue to need the help of all our readers here!! 

 

As a HixNews reader, please help us by reviewing both lists when you select the "click here" options near the bottom of this update.  To save you time, just look for names from your class year and other years you may be familiar with, as a reference and see if you have a new name or some missing data on existing names to email to us.  Class years, where known, are specifically shown and missing data is marked in red, to make it easy for readers to see what's needed.

 

The Unconfirmed List was created to specifically insure we don't leave anyone behind from earlier class years (the 1940's and 50's) who served during the Vietnam War Era and deserve recognition.  Please see if you can help us establish if these folks served during the Vietnam Era (Vietnam Era dates are shown in the "Memorial Qualifications" section below).

 

Memorial Qualifications and Project Team:  These have been displayed in this report monthly for a long time now and have not changed.  If you are a new reader, please check a past issue of HixNews for qualifications and the list of Project Team members.

 

Here's what we continue to need from each person reading this to do:

 

Please click on the following link to review the Confirmed List of Names: Click here

Please click on the following link to review the UNCONFIRMED List of Names: Click here

 
If you know of someone who is not listed, or if you have information we are still missing, please email what you have to Joe Carfora at jcar4a@aol.com.    Please use the information contained on the current list as a guide for the data needed to complete a name's listing.

 

Alphabetical List of Current Donors

 

Many Thanks go out to all of our current donors!!  So far, 26 people, up from 18 last month have enabled us to achieve a current total of slightly over $4,700, up from $3,400 last month.  The list of current donors is as follows:

 

Annucci, Dianne C.

Carfora, Joseph

Casale, Robert

Davis, Cheryl (Proffe) & William

Dunne, Patrick & Barbara

HFD Hook & Ladder Company 1

Hicksville Veterans Memorial Committee

Hoffer, Richard & Patricia

Imbrie, Carolyn

Lembke, Arthur & Dorothea

Libert, Elaine M.

Listort, Dennis

Masone, Robert & Marleen

McIsaac, Rev. Robert M. & Margaret

Osborne, Edward A.

Peluso, Robert J., Jr.

Plonski, Anthony J., Jr.

Rivoire, Edward & Patricia

Roth, Doris & Julie

Rozos, Michael & Sharon

Strafer, Kenneth J.

Thurer, Robert L. & Shari

Walden, William

Wallace, Terence K.

Warshawsky, Peter W.

Woods Realty (Harold Woods)

 

Thank you!

 

 

To access a huge list of veteran related websites that offer assistance, visit http://buffalobobcasale.com