WALL SOUTH by Art Giberson

On November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC as a tangible symbol of recognition by the nation for the sacrifices made by Vietnam veterans. Ten years later, October 24, 1992, a second symbol of recognition was established in Pensacola, Florida, with the dedication of WALL SOUTH--the only permanent Vietnam Veterans Memorial outside of the nation's capital--to list the names of the more than 58,217 Americans killed or missing in Southeast Asia.

The dedication of WALL SOUTH should have been the conclusion of a more than five-year struggle by Pensacola area Vietnam veterans to construct a memorial in honor of the men and women who fought and died in America's most controversial and longest armed conflict. But for those most responsible for bringing WALL SOUTH to this Florida Panhandle city--Vietnam Veterans of Northwest Florida--the completion of Veterans Park, like the Vietnam War itself, is a never ending skirmish.

Since its dedication, thousands of people, including former Vice Presidents Dan Quayle and Al Gore, have visited WALL SOUTH. The black, granite V-shaped memorial, sitting on an immaculate carpet of green grass overlooking Pensacola Bay, has evolved into a beautiful, yet somber, tourist attraction.

And although the park is technically city property, its maintenance and upkeep are the responsibility of the Vietnam Veterans of Northwest Florida/Wall South Foundation.

Funds for maintaining WALL SOUTH are raised by the same people responsible for building the park in the first place--Pensacola area Vietnam veterans. Not one dime of taxpayer money is used for the maintaining Veterans Memorial Park and WALL SOUTH. Every penny comes from donations.

WALL SOUTH tells the story in words, and more than 200 photographs, of the five-year struggle by Pensacola area Vietnam veterans and their families to construct a permanent memorial in honor of the men and women who never returned from Southeast Asia. (Published 1995 by Vietnam Veterans of Northwest Florida.)

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