Friday, May 7, 2004 - The Vietnam War In Memory memorial
plaque was installed by the American Battle Monuments Commission's
contractors on the expanded and renovated plaza near the Three
Servicemen statue. Shown from left are Firvida Construction Company
president Francisco Firvida, Roberto Firvida, ABMC staff member
Michael Norbury, and job foreman Jose M. Cavadas. Granite donated
by the National Park Service was treated by the manufacturer
to provide a slight contrast in tone and texture. Water used
clean the surrounding paving emphasizes the contrast in this
photo. The engraving, in Optima, the typeface used on the Wall,
is filled with a black grout for legibility. Rain will similarly
darken the plaque, temporarily veiling the inscription, as it
does the names on the Wall.
Click
here for high-resolution photos for printouts and media
Friday, April 23, 2004
- Firvida Construction
Company stoneworkers proceed with renovation and expansion of
the plaza where the In Memory plaque will be located.
At left stand architect J.C. Cummings and American Battle Monuments
Commission staff member Michael Norbury.
ABMC, Architects,
Park Service, Stone Contractors
Gathered to Advance
In Memory Plaque Installation
Friday, March 5, 2004
~ Thomas R. Sole,
the American Battle Monuments Commission's Director of Engineering,
Operations and Maintenance, discusses preparatory measures onsite
with (around the circle from his left) job foreman Jose M. Cavadas
and president Francisco Firvida of Firvida Construction Company;
Scot Ahrnsbrak, National Park Service Right of Way Coordinator;
Glenn DeMarr, National Park Service Land Use Coordinator; Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Architect of Record J.C. Cummings; Stephen
A. Lederach of Arnold Associates Landscape Architecture and Urban
Design; Sean Kennealy, Chief of Maintenance, National Capital
Parks - Central, and ABMC staff member Michael Norbury.
Click here for high resolution photos for press or
printouts.
Prior to the authorization
of $50,000 to the ABMC by the board of directors of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Fund, the Commission received private contributions
totaling more than $83,650, including $50,000 from Harley Davidson
Motor Company plus more than $33,650 from veterans' families,
friends and loved ones and a variety of veterans' groups and
other organizations, businesses, and non-federal government sources,
including the State
of Vermont. Relatively
recent group donors included the New
Jersey Council of Vietnam Veterans of America and the
Agent
Orange Widows Awareness Coalition.
You are invited to
visit the Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque Project's Main
Page and Donor
Recognitions and Dedications Page to learn about some of the many other individuals
and organizations who have helped along the way.
In Memory Plaque Project
Background:
In 2000, sparked by years of efforts on the part of
the grass-roots, non-profit, all volunteer Vietnam War In Memory
Memorial, Inc., the 106th Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation
proposed by Representative Elton Gallegly of California and Senator
Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, authorizing a commemorative
plaque to be added to
the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, inscribed to acknowledge
and honor veterans whose premature deaths were due to their service
but who are not eligible for recognition by name on the Wall.
A federal agency, the American
Battle Monuments Commission,
was designated by Congress to solicit and accept private contributions
and accomplish the commemorative plaque in consultation with
the architects of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Inc. and
the Vietnam
Women's Memorial Foundation.
The ABMC directed that the design, location and inscription
for the commemorative plaque would be reached through a process
which included representatives of the VVMF, the VWM, and the
Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque Project. The result was
approved by authorities, including the National Capital Memorial
Commission, the National Commission on Fine Arts, and the National
Capital Planning Commission.
At its National Convention in Greensboro, North Carolina,
August, 2001, the Vietnam
Veterans of America, Inc.,
encouraged Vietnam veterans and their families to support the
establishment of the Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque and
to participate in public awareness and fund raising activities
to honor those veterans for whom the In Memory Plaque will bear
constant witness.
The In Memory plaque,
which bears no names, is inscribed to commemorate ALL postwar
casualties whose names are not eligible for placement on the
Wall. There is NO requirement for adjudications, donations, registrations,
placements on a list, or recognition in a special ceremony for
those men and women whose postwar death was service-related to
be considered as being included among those whom the In Memory
plaque recognizes and honors.
Please visit
our Main
Page to view photographs
representing some of the many veterans the In Memory plaque will
honor, and to learn more about the history of the In Memory Plaque
Project, the organizations endorsing it, and the people helping
to make it happen.
Main Page
Donor Recognitions & Dedications Page
ABMC Vietnam Veterans Plaque Page
For more information please
contact:
Ruth Coder Fitzgerald
President
Vietnam War In Memory Memorial,
Inc.
808 Charlotte Street
Fredericksburg, VA
22401
540-371-3253
RCoderFitz@aol.com
Thomas R. Sole -
Director
Engineering, Maintenance
& Operations
American Battle Monuments
Commission
Courthouse Plaza II,
Suite 500
2300 Clarendon Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201
703-696-6899
solet@abmc.gov
The story of postwar casualties
is, unfortunately, a continuing one. Please help to continue
raising public awareness of all postwar casualties. Contact
your local news media to suggest a story including the Vietnam
War In Memory Memorial Plaque. Tell them if you or someone you
know are willing to be interviewed. Refer reporters and other
media representatives to this website, the ABMC website and to Vietnam Veterans of America for more information...
Thank you!
~ A
Library of Congress Veterans History Project Partner ~
