40 Photos from the 1982 Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
In 2022 – we’re commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Throughout the year, we’re highlighting lists of 40 things related to the Vietnam war/era.
For the final month, we’ve compiled 40 photos from the 1982 Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial:
Honor guards carrying their flags, which are reflected in The Wall.
During the 1982 Dedication ceremonies, the formal military honor guard stands on top of The Wall, while the informal honor guard, established by the veterans, maintains its position below.
Panoramic view of the crowd, estimated at 150,000, which attended the 1982 Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
A ceremony takes place during the Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982.
A Vietnam veteran looks for familiar names on The Wall, November 1982.
Pictured on stage from left to right: Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, Jan Scruggs, Robert W. Doubek, and, John P. Wheeler III (speaking) during the 1982 Dedication Ceremony of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
An aerial taken over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during the Dedication ceremony on November 13, 1982.
Vets pose for a group photo in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Marchers in wheelchairs cheer as they pass the reviewing stand during the parade.
General Westmoreland is shown at the reviewing stand for the National Salute to Vietnam Veterans parade of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund with Joe Zengerle, a member of VVMF’s National Sponsoring Committee (as was Westmoreland). Joe as an Army Captain was the General’s special assistant in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Also pictured are Joe’s wife Lynda, an economics officer in the State Department when her husband Joe was in Vietnam, and their children Jason and Tucker (being held).
A veteran stands among the crowd at the Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Maya Lin stands during the Dedication ceremony in November1982.
Ron Coselman (cammies), Terry McConnell (T-shirt) organized the flag holding at the apex. They ‘borrowed’ the flag from their hotel so the Memorial would have an American flag.
The crowd of attendees at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during the Dedication ceremony, 1982.
A woman lays flags and roses at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial after the Dedication ceremony on November 13, 1982.
Crowd gets their first look at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial after the Dedication ceremony, 1982.
“I [Thomas Keating] walked around groups of veterans, hundreds of them, many dressed in fatigues, who were gathering around the memorial site.” – excerpt from The Enduring Legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Forty Years of Healing
http://vvmf.org/40th-book
“I noticed a veteran on crutches, standing away from the wall, back near some trees. His right foot was in a cast, and he was wearing camo jungle fatigues and a faded Boonie hat. He wore a Hawaii State Flag shoulder patch on his left sleeve. I [Thomas Keating] walked over and asked him why he had come. His name was Jay and he told me that he came because he wanted to see his buddies’ names on the Memorial, but he could not bring himself to get any closer to the black granite wall. “Too much hurt,” he said” – excerpt from The Enduring Legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Forty Years of Healing
http://vvmf.org/40th-book
David DeChant and Sandie Fauriol read the first group of names at the first-ever Reading of the Names that occurred during the Dedication week in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
During a party, Wolfman Jack, perhaps the best-known disc jockey of the Vietnam era, salutes the vets and pours them a drink.
