The New JerseyVietnam Veterans' Memorial in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, honors those from that state who served in the Vietnam War, especially the 1,562 men and one woman who were killed or missing in action. The design for the memorial was created by Hien Nguyen in 1988, and construction was officially completed on May 7, 1995, when it was dedicated. The Memorial is located on the grounds of the Garden State Arts Center. Guided tours by volunteer New Jersey veterans are available for groups. The memorial is an open-air circular pavilion, in diameter. Around the entire outside are 366 black granite panels, each one representing a day the year. The casualties are listed according to what day they were killed. In the middle of the circular pavilion is a red oak, the state tree of New Jersey. This tree provides shade for three statues, one of a dying soldier, one of a nurse tending to his wounds, and one soldier standing at their sides. They represent those who died, the women in the war, and those who came back safely, respectively. They also represent multiple nationalities as the fallen soldier is white, the standing soldier is African American, and the nurse is Latino. The stone panels are arranged so they are about higher than the inner courtyard. The ten stairways and two ramps leading up to them intersect, as the designer did not want the pathways for the handicapped separate. These ramps are arranged in a double helix, each one ascending to the top in half of the circle. The two entrances to the memorial are tunnels, symbolizing the trip the soldiers took to Vietnam. The memorial is oriented so that the May Seventh panel, the day the war ended, points towards Vietnam.
Museum and Educational Center
The Vietnam Era Museum and Educational Center is adjacent to the memorial, and is the first of its kind in the country. According to one of the officials here, the state asked the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. what she would do over again given the chance to redesign the memorial. She said that, without an educational center explaining the war and turmoil in the country at that time, a memorial could be meaningless to passerby. This is the rationale for the existence of the facility. In 2010, the Vietnam Era Educational Center was changed to the Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center. No one is buried on the memorial site, except for the original owners of the land. The property was given to the state to build on, and the owners only asked that they continue to be able to be buried here.
New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation
The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation is a private nonprofit established that operates the Memorial, Museum and Educational Center. Governor Thomas Kean signed a bill in 1986 creating the 14-member New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Committee within the Department of State. Senator Edward O'Connor, the first Vietnam Veteran elected to the state senate, was selected to serve as chairman. The committee was charged with selecting an appropriate site, selecting an appropriate design, and raising funds to complete the construction. The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation was created and incorporated under the laws of the State of New jersey as a non-profit corporation in 1989. The Memorial Committee continued in an oversight capacity, relying on the Foundation's officers, trustees, executive director, and volunteers to pursue the day-to-day needs of the project. The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Committee was also transferred from the Department of State to the newly created Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Memorial Design
In June 1987, Governor Kean signed legislation appropriating $25,000 to administer a statewide competition for the design of the memorial. The memorial design competition ran through the summer of 1988 and drew 421 entries. On July 1987, the winning design for the memorial, submitted by Hien Nguyen - a naturalized American citizen who had escaped from Vietnam thirteen years earlier - was unveiled.
