Calif. Enveils Vietnam Memorial

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Southern California's Vietnam War Memorial Gives Recognition to South Vietnamese


LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. Sept. 22 ? After six years of political bickering and fund-raising, a 12-foot bronze sculpture depicting two soldiers an American and a South Vietnamese was unveiled in honor of those who died in the Vietnam War.

"My image for this sculpture is so anyone can think, 'This is my son, or it could be my neighbor or brother who fought in the war,'" Tuan Nguyen, the sculptor who escaped Vietnam by walking through Cambodian jungles, said Saturday.

With the sun setting over the Pacific, Vietnamese-Americans began singing the Vietnamese national anthem. About 250 people, some of them beachgoers wearing bathing suits and T-shirts, stood quietly during a minute of silence. Four Vietnam veterans touched the statue and cried.

The bronze will be installed Monday in a 1.4-acre park in Westminster, the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. It is planned to be a centerpiece of a plaza with a fountain, an eternal flame and computer kiosks where visitors can look up the names of both Vietnamese and American casualties.

The park is expected to be completed by December, said Frank Fry, a former mayor and Westminster city councilman.

"When our kids came back from Vietnam they were spit on and had their soldiers' uniforms torn off," said Fry, who came up with the idea of a Vietnam memorial on the West Coast. "I thought, why not have a statue commemorating the soldiers on both sides who fought for freedom?"

The memorial was privately funded, mostly by small donations from the local Vietnamese community. But the project drew criticism for running nearly three times over its original budget of $500,000.

Still, those who saw the giant bronze for the first time marveled at its accurate depiction that conjured memories of their homeland.

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