Scruggs to Honor New Mexico’s Vietnam Veterans during Feb. 27 Event

JAN SCRUGGS TO SPEAK AT NEW MEXICO CAPITOL

Washington, D.C. – Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, will be a featured speaker at the Military and Veterans Day ceremony at the New Mexico legislature on Feb. 27.

Military and Veterans Day is an annual event at the state capitol. This year’s theme is “New Mexico Vietnam Veterans Remembered.”

Jan Scruggs served in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade during the Vietnam War. He received the Purple Heart for shrapnel injuries he sustained when his unit was attacked in May 1969. He led the effort to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. in the early 1980s to honor all who served in the Vietnam War and to remember those who died or remain missing.

“I am honored to take part in this ceremony to remember the New Mexicans who answered their country’s call during the Vietnam War,” he said. “Sixty thousand served, and 398 of them never came home. I am glad to join the people of New Mexico in thanking all of these brave citizens for their service and sacrifice.”

The day will begin with a private breakfast with Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and other guests. Later that morning, Scruggs will be recognized on the floor of the New Mexico House of Representatives and Senate. Afterward, in a ceremony in the rotunda of the state capitol, Scruggs will speak to a large gathering of fellow Vietnam veterans, thanking them for their service. Scruggs and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Drew Dix will be the guests of honor at a luncheon that afternoon.

Jan Scruggs led the effort to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., beginning in the late 1970s. A Vietnam veteran himself, Scruggs was troubled by how the country was treating veterans returning home from the Vietnam War. He conceived of the idea to build a memorial to all who served and sacrificed as a way to thank them for their service and as a way for the deeply divided nation to heal. In 1979, with $2,800 of his own money, he incorporated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and launched a drive to raise more than $8 million to build the Memorial. The Wall, as it came to be known, was dedicated after a week-long salute to Vietnam Veterans in November 1982.

Since then, Scruggs and the Memorial Fund have created programs that include educational initiatives, a traveling replica of The Wall, and six ceremonies at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial each year that remember and honor those who served.

The Memorial Fund has also embarked on an educational project to teach America’s young people about all who have served their country through the lens of the Vietnam War. The Education Center at The Wall is being built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to teach visitors about the people behind the more than 58,000 names inscribed on The Wall and honor those who served in all of America’s wars. Exhibits will include a wall of photographs of those whose names are on The Wall, a selection of the over 100,000 items that have been left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a timeline of key military events in the Vietnam War.
 
Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, through a series of outreach programs, it is dedicated to preserving the legacy of The Wall, promoting healing, educating about the impact of the Vietnam War and is building The Education Center at The Wall underground near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.