The Official Voice of Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. ®
An organization chartered by the U.S. Congress
August 2002
COVER STORY
The Arizona Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Across from the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix's Bolin Memorial Park is the Arizona Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A map of Vietnam imbedded in the sidewalk leads the visitor into the memorial. Slabs of polished granite half-ring the circular grounds. On the polished monoliths are engraved the names of the Arizona dead.
Those 619 names include U.S. Army PFC Floyd Robert Davis, who was killed March 21, 1963, and Army Capt. Edward Bernard Cribb, who died five months later, on August 26. They were the first Arizona casualties. U.S. Air Force Capt. Leroy Jason Cornwell III of Tucson was the last: He perished in Laos on September 10, 1071.
Large cottonwoods enfold the memorial slabs that, in turn, enfold the memorial. There's a raised circular construction in the center of the memorial to which are attached plaques that chronicle the major events of the war. From the center of this bronze-cast history lesson grows a young tree. Off to one side is a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of three servicemen. But unlike the Three Fightingmen at The Wall, these figures are neither grand nor well-fed. They are hurting. They're hurting bad.
Photo by Michael Keating.
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