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1/29/1979. New attitude?

"Vietnam Veterans -- Peace at Last?" U. S. News & World Report, 01/29/79, 16. "Six years after the Jan. 27, 1973, cease-fire that led to withdrawal of the U.S. forces, passions have cooled to the point that the warriors no longer are blamed for the war." [FullText]

2/5/1979. Not so.

"Angry Vietnam Veterans Charging Federal Policies Ignore Their Needs," by Bernard Weinraub, New York Times, 02/15/79, A15. "Vietnam veterans, a relatively unorganized pressure group with little political power, are challenging the Carter Administration's policies toward them. Amid signs that the veterans are struggling to emerge from their political isolation, the former enlisted men and officers are accusing the Administration of neglecting . . . " [FullText]

3/1979. Scruggs sees The Deer Hunter, after which, he says several times, he conceived the idea of a memorial.

3/1979. Proposal by Scruggs for a memorial falls flat at a meeting of forty veterans planning activities for the upcoming Vietnam Veterans Week, but he meets Robert W. Doubek , who suggests forming a corporation.

4/22/1979. The television movie Friendly Fire starring Carol Burnett and Ned Beatty.

"'Friendly Fire' with Power to Penetrate," by Tom Shales, Washington Post, 04/22/79, K1. "What 'Friendly Fire' [a tv movie] has is the integrity of reality; it is a true story about how a family's love of country was jolted by powers that were beyond their control and perhaps beyond any control at all." [FullText]

4/23/1979. Impatient veterans.

"Heroes Without Honor Face the Battle at Home," Time, 04/23/79, 31. "Not long ago, a Viet Nam veteran in Minneapolis was asked if there was anything he would particularly like to say to Max Cleland when the VA chief arrived in the city for a scheduled visit. The vet brooded for a moment, then replied, half sardonically, half plaintively, 'Yes. When are we going to get our parade?'" [FullText]

4/27/1979. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is incorporated as a non-profit corporation with Scruggs as President and Doubek as Secretary.

4/28/1979. Feeling of neglect continues.

"Vietnam Veterans Still Feel Chill from the White House," by Ward Sinclair, Washington Post, 04/28/79: A2. "A spate of recent books and movies tells one part of their story, but for thousands of former soldiers Vietnam is still the war that stays in the closet. Many of the 9 million Vietnam-era veterans see themselves as scorned strangers in their own land, targets of lingering resentment over a war that pleased no one. They also see themselves abandoned by the Carter Administration, which 25 months ago held out hope and promise of reconciliation and special help for a special kind of veteran." [FullText]

"Vietnam Veterans' Needs Unfulfilled," by Jack Anderson, Washington Post, 04/28/79: E37. "Americans who were not directly affected by the decade-long frustration of Vietnam want to forget the war. There are too many other matters, like dollar-a-gallon gasoline and inflation, to preoccupy the public's attention. This seems to be the case with the Carter Administration too." [FullText]

5/27/1979. Demanding veterans.

"Now, Vietnam Vets Demand Their Rights," by Bernard Weinraub, New York Times Magazine, 05/27/79: 30-33. "They are in their 30s now, many of them married, the fathers of young children. They have been home for 10 or 11 years, having slipped back quietly into society without victory parades to welcome them. . . . They are, in many ways, a perplexed and splintered generation. . . . What has dominated the mood of Vietnam veterans has been a passion for isolation and anonymity. . . . But . . . the veterans themselves . . . are now sruggling to organize, to assert themselves for the first time, to come to terms with an experience many of them had sought to erase." [FullText]

5/28/1979. Scruggs holds a press conference to kick off fundraising:

"Vietnam Veterans to Seek $1 Million for a Monument," New York Times, 05/28/79: A8. "Jan Scruggs, founder and chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, said he conceived the idea of a memorial after seeing the Academy Award-winning movie, 'The Deer Hunter.'" [FullText]

5/28/1979. Vietnam Veterans Week:

"Memorial Day Services, Activities Planned in Area; Veterans Ask Vietnam War Remembrance; Veterans Urge Look at Lessons Of Vietnam War," by Thomas Morgan, Washington Post, 05/28/79, C1. "Congress designated today through Sunday as National Vietnam Veterans Week to honor those who served in Vietnam. Throughout the week, members of the Ad Hoc Committee for Vietnam Veterans Week, an advisory group to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, will be handing out flyers and red ribbons, the symbol of recognition for Vietnam era veterans." [FullText]

"A Tale of Two Veterans," by Max Cleland, Washington Post, 05/28/79, A21. "The report . . .tells a tale of two veterans. The first returned from service to become a well-adjusted, productive member of society. This veteran is representative of all but a few of the men and women who served in the Vietnam era. . . . The other veteran . . . has continuing readjustment problems. . . . The administration has intensified its efforts to help this 'second veteran.'" [FullText]

"'All Vietnam Veterans Have a Certain Hole in Their Soul That Can Only Be Healed with Special Thanks,'" by Thomas Morgan et al., Washington Post, 05/29/79, C1. "[VA head Max] Cleland told a crowd of 3,500 that America has a special debt to pay those who fought in Vietnam. 'I feel all Vietnam veterans have a certain hole in their soul that I think can only be healed with special thanks,' said Cleland. But some Veterans were not impressed. Five who came from a Penn State University veterans group confronted Cleland after the speech and carried on an angry 10-minute dialogue in which they accused the Veterans Administration of making only token gestures of support. 'We've gotten nothing but empty promises from the VA,' said one of them." [FullText]

"Vietnam Veterans Week: Is America Ready to Face Them?" by Myra MacPherson, Washington Post, 05/31/79, D1. "They [the organizers] want to compel memory of the Vietnam veterans -- reminders of a war America has wanted to forget. They want something to be done about the veterans' staggering problems -- high rates of unemployment, suicides, broken marriages, psychological problems, alcohol and drug abuse." [FullText]

5/30/1979. White House dinner for Vietnam veterans:

"Honoring That Extra Measure of Sacrifice," by Myra MacPherson, Washington Post, 05/31/79, D1. "President Carter, in an emotional speech at a White House reception in recognition of Vietnam Veterans Week, said yesterday, 'The nation has not done enough to respect, to honor, to recognize and reward the special heroism of those who served in the most divisive foreign war in U.S. history.' The president said many view the Vietnam veterans as 'unfortunate reminders of the war that was different' - waged without the 'shared commitment' of Americans. To offer one's life under such circumstances, 'requires an extra measure of patriotism and of sacrifice,' he continued. The war took those men who were 'most unfortunate, he said. They were, he said, 'deprived of political influence, could not afford to be a student in college, (they were) the relatively inarticulate.'" [FullText]

6/1979. As fundraising begins, some poignant letters come in with small donations, but Roger Mudd reports wryly on the CBS Evening News that only $144.50 has been collected, and Scruggs is made fun of by a late-night tv comedian.

6/1979. John C. Wheeler becomes involved, meeting with Scruggs and Doubek.

8/1979. Wheeler helps convene a meeting of veterans who become the nucleus of a volunteer corps.

8/1979. A Fine Arts Commission official suggests a site for the memorial near Arlington Cemetery that Scruggs and Wheeler visit and find unacceptable.

8/4/1979. Scruggs' promotional efforts bear fruit when New Jersey Senator Charles Mathias calls and asks to see him.

8/15/1979. The movie Apocalypse Now starring Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall.

8/19/1979. On such filmic representations.

"The Screening of Vietnam," by James Webb, Washington Post, 08/19/79: L1. "Hollywood has developed a distorted view of our Vietnam involvement, which is on the one hand grotesque in and of itself, and on the other damaging to us as a society attempting to assimilate that failed war into our national identity." [FullText]

9/1979. Scruggs, Doubek, Wheeler, and three National Park Service officials meet with Senator Mathias, who picks the Constitution Gardens site, near the Lincoln Memorial.

10/1979. Senator John Warner of Virginia proposes a direct mail campaign to raise funds

10/24/1979. Meeting with National Capital Memorial Advisory Committee results in an invitation to return in January.

10/25/1979. James Webb shows draft legislation to Congressman John Hammerschmidt of Arkansas, who prematurely introduces legislation in the House (Congressional Record: Vol 125, Part 23, 29680) in terms that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund people feel might arouse opposition.

Congressional Record: Vol 125, Part 23, 29680. "It is now up to Congress to bring a long-deserved dignity to those who answered the call, at great personal cost. It is their turn to gather on the mall, Mr. Speaker, and when I notice that the portion of this memorial will contain the names of every man who died in Vietnam, I cannot think of a more appropriate group to be permanently enshrined there." [FullText]

11/8/1979. At a press conference (designed to coincide with Veteran's Day celebrations) led by Senator Mathias, twenty-six senators announce they will back legislation introduced to build a memorial:

"Vietnam War Memorial; Senate Bill Proposes Site on Mall," by Donald P. Baker, Washington Post, 11/9/79: C1. "Mathias . . . said the memorial "will provide a long overdue acknowledgment by the American people of the sacrifice and service of Vietnam veterans. It will contribute greatly toward resolving the real and continuing divisions in our society as a result of that war." [FullText]

11/11/1979. Veterans Day offerings by Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation leaders Scruggs and Wheeler.

"We Were Young. We Have Died. Remember Us," by Jan C. Scruggs, Washington Post, 11/11/79: B4. "The bitterness I feel when I remember carrying the lifeless bodies of close friends through the mire of Vietnam will probably never subside. I still wonder if anything can be found to bring any purpose to all the suffering and death. I recently came across some lines from a poem by Archibald MacLeish, 'The Young Dead Soldiers,' which may give that sacrifice some meaning: They say: We were young. We have died. Remember us. [FullText]

"Vietnam Vets: Tomorrow's Leaders," by John B. Wheeler III, Washington Post, 11/12/79: A17. "Because there is a perceived lack of national leadership, Veterans Day marks a suitable time for a fairly bold prediction: the American veterans of the war in Vietnam will emerge during the 1980s as a major reservoir of national leadership. . . . Beginning soon . . . the men who soldiered and came back, will make themselves felt. We need them." [FullText]

"Sad and Bitter Memories; Bitter Memories of War; Nation Honors Veterans, but Some Feel Forgotten," by Mike Sager, Washington Post, 11/12/79: C1. [FullText]

11/13/1979. And Webb.

"What the Vietnam Veteran Needs," by James Webb, Congressional Record, vol. 125, Part 24, 32250 (reprinted from Marine Corps Gazette). "What can you do to help the Vietnam veteran fit himself back into society on the terms of his experience? First, understand the nature of the war, and of his part in it. Then, buy him the beer you owed him 10 years ago, and let him talk about it." [PDF]

12/1/1979. Full-time executive director is hired by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund; additional volunteer staff is recruited.

12/20/1979. Senator Warner hosts breakfast fundraising event.