Search
Search
Close this search box.

The story behind the memorial honoring all veterans changed by service

Next month, DAV will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. The event will honor the veterans the memorial represents while paying tribute to the dedication and vision of those who brought the idea to reality.

What makes this memorial special and different from many of the others around Washington, D.C., is that it represents all veterans from all eras and all branches, even those who have yet to wear the uniform, according to Dennis Joyner, president of the Disabled Veterans’ Life Memorial Foundation.

“Sadly, as long as we’re always in a conflict, we are unfortunately going to have injured service men and women, be it from combat or be it from training in service to their country,” he said.

It’s a reality Joyner and his family know all too well. He became a triple amputee 55 years ago—when he was just 20 years old—from a land mine that exploded while he was serving in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

The memorial to honor disabled veterans, which is located not far from the Capitol, started as a shared vision between then-Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown, then-DAV National Adjutant Art Wilson and philanthropist Lois Pope.

To bring their vision to reality, they founded the nonprofit foundation.

The most pressing issue they had was gaining congressional approval, including an exception to federal guidelines that prohibited Washington, D.C., memorials from commemorating living people — a group Brown, Wilson and Pope wanted their memorial to represent.

They drafted legislation, gained congressional co-sponsors and testified before Congress, which passed an act approving construction of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in 1998. President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law in 2000. The site was selected and fundraising began in 2003.

Over the next decade, as the memorial progressed through a construction approval process, fundraising continued. Individuals and corporations as well as DAV departments and chapters donated millions of dollars toward its construction.

The memorial’s initial design concept was approved in 2004. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved the final design in July 2009. In 2011, off-site fabrication of elements of the memorial began. In 2013, on-site construction began. The memorial was finished in 2014 and dedicated on Oct. 5 that year.

“We gather in our nation’s capital, a place where honor is bestowed upon nearly every cause and history is remembered in bronze and stone from every vantage,” said Wilson at the dedication ceremony. “We honor our fallen. We honor every branch and the battles and the bold. But until this day, we have not remembered those who lived and whose lives were forever changed by the sacrifices they made in uniform.”

The 2.4-acre site features a star-shaped fountain with a solitary flame at its center. Granite slabs and glass panels tell the story of veterans forever changed by their visible and invisible wounds of war.

“The experiences etched on these walls remind us that, for those who serve and their families, wars often continue long after the final bullet is fired,” Wilson said. “The most difficult fight often begins after an injury is sustained.”

Joyner, who is a past DAV national commander and was the memorial’s secretary at the time, also spoke at the 2014 dedication.

“Although I’ve been blessed with many achievements in life, the achievement I am most proud of is this memorial,” he said. “A memorial that gives me, and the many other disabled veterans like me, a sense of contentment knowing that what we gave, what our families gave and what we continue to give will be forever remembered here in our nation’s capital.”

For more information about the memorial and to take a virtual tour, visit avdlm.org.

The post The story behind the memorial honoring all veterans changed by service appeared first on DAV.