California Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Sacramento, CA - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

From the inventory: "A memorial designed in the shape of concentric circles, ringed with weeping cherry trees. The outer ring of the memorial is comprised of low, precast concrete planters, with three entrance breaks in the circle. Flanking each entrance are pylons, capped with 24-hour lamps to symbolize eternal flames. The inner circle, 22 feet in diameter, has entrances at the four points of the compass. At the southern point is the main entrance, a broad walkway with a polished granite map of South Vietnam engraved in the rough granite paving. To the right of the main entrance are the names of the appointed Commissioners; to the left, California's Great Seal, both cast in bronze.

Within the inner circle, a bronze figure of a generic nineteen year old combat soldier is seen sitting on his helmet and cradling his M-16 rifle. The soldier looks up from the letter he holds in his proper right hand to confront the visitor. To the figure's left is a dedication plaque with an excerpt of a poem by U.S. Army Major Michael O'Donnell. Behind the figure is a flagpole, with a truss suggestive of a World War II Bailey Bridge. Each interior niche wall has a thematic bronze bas-relief, with three smaller side bas-relief panels.

The North Wall Niche depicts soldiers engaged in combat. The surrounding panels depict other views of combat, a fragment of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The East Wall Niche depicts the friendship of soldiers at war, and the surrounding panels illustrate everyday experiences in the field. The South Wall Niche depicts a POW sitting alone in his cell. Surrounding him are the machines of war; a B-52, and a patrol boat. The West Wall Niche depicts nurses tending wounded soldiers. The surrounding panels represent corpsmen tending the wounded, and memorabilia from a soldier's personal effects: dogtags, a letter, a pressed rose, an American flag, and remembered headline from Stars and Stripes.

The outer surface of the inner walls is faced with 22 panels of granite engraved with nearly 6,000 names of Californians killed or missing in action. At the rear of the memorial is a 5-foot "treasury," a time capsule, containing a list of every individual and organization that contributed to the building of the memorial. A bronze sculpture of a helmet, a pair of boots, and a cartridge belt sits above the treasury.

The memorial honors the 5,822 servicemen and servicewomen killed and missing in action in Vietnam. The movement to erect a Vietnam War memorial was started in 1983 by a group of Vietnam veterans from Marin and Sonoma counties. The key person of the group, Herman Woods, convinced California Assemblyman Richard Floyt to introduce Assembly Bill 650, which was signed into law by Governor George Deukmejian in Sept. 1983. A design competition was held from Oct. 1984 to April 1985. The winning design, by Michael Larson and Thomas Chytrowski, was unveiled May 20, 1985. The memorial cost $2.2 million dollars and was funded through private donations. The war scenes on the interior reliefs were taken from well-known war photographs."

TITLE: California Vietnam Veterans Memorial ARTIST(S): Kriken, Rolf Nord, sculptor. Larson, Michael L., designer. Chytrowski, Thomas, designer. Duncan, David Douglas, photographer. (copy after) Page, Tim, photographer. (copy after) Olson, John, photographer. (copy after) Schutzer, Phil, photographer. (copy af DATE: 1988. Copyrighted Dec. 1988. Dedicated Dec. 10, 1988. MEDIUM: Memorial: black granite, concrete, and bronze; Base: ceramic and concrete. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS CA000959 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Located Capitol Park, East of the state capitol, Sacramento, California DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date of your visit, your impressions of the sculpture, and at least ONE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH. Add any additional information you may have, particularly any personal observations about the condition of the sculpture.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   09/05/2015 FolsomNatural visited it 05/30/2015 SierraHiker63 visited it 05/29/2015 mcfail visited it 06/03/2014 fresgo visited it 06/01/2013 NW_history_buff visited it 09/18/2012 FolsomNatural visited it 01/17/2011 sparkey916 visited it 11/20/2009 saopaulo1 visited it

View all visits/logs