Congress approved the Memorial and President Bill Clinton
signed the federal legislation into law in October 2000. The law authorized the
Disabled Veterans' Life Memorial Foundation to establish a Memorial dedicated to
both living and deceased disabled veterans, and to raise all of the funds
necessary for construction, maintenance and preservation. Following an
invitation design competition in 2003, the Foundation selected Michael Vergason
Landscape Architects, Ltd., of Alexandria, Virginia to design the Memorial. The
graphics, text and bronze components of the Memorial were created by artist
Larry Kirkland in collaboration with Cloud Gehshan Associates. Washington,
D.C.-based architectural firm Shalom Baranes Associates was the project
architect.
Through juxtaposition of granite and glass, the American
Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial conveys a combination of strength and
vulnerability, of loss and renewal. Dedicated on October 5, 2014, the Memorial
shines a light on the important lessons of courage, sacrifice, tenacity, loyalty
and honor by bearing witness to the experiences of war heroes who were disabled
as a result of military service. It is the first national memorial dedicated
solely to disabled veterans, paying tribute to the hidden and visible
disabilities from all conflicts and all branches of service.
Dedicated on October 5, 2014, the Memorial shines a light
on the important lessons of courage, sacrifice, tenacity, loyalty and honor by
bearing witness to the experiences of war heroes who were disabled as a result
of military service. It is the first national memorial dedicated solely to
disabled veterans, paying tribute to the hidden and visible disabilities from
all conflicts and all branches of service.
Memorial authorized 2000 (114 Stat. 1358), dedicated 2014
Inscriptions
East wall, north side
EACH OF YOU BEARS UPON HIS BODY THE PERMANENT, HONORABLE
SCARS OF DANGEROUS SERVICE; SERVICE RENDERED IN ORDER THAT OUR GREAT NATION
MIGHT CONTINUE TO LIVE ACCORDING TO THE EXPRESSED WILL OF ITS OWN CITIZENS.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
South wall
BEFORE I CONCLUDE THE SUBJECT OF PUBLIC JUSTICE, I CANNOT
OMIT TO MENTION OBLIGATIONS THIS COUNTRY IS UNDER TO THAT MERITORIUS CLASS OF
VETERAN NON-COMMISSIONED OFFFICERS AND PRIVATES WHO HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED FOR
INABILITY...NOTHING COULD BE A MORE MELANCHOLY AND DISTRESSING SIGHT THAN TO
BEHOLD THOSE WHO HAVE SHED THEIR BLOOD OR LOST THEIR LIMBS IN THE SERVICE OF
THEIR COUNTRY.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Quotes on glass panels
The strongest ties between human beings are not cemented in
safety, luxury, and comfort. It is the sharing together of the scanty covering,
the insufficient shelter, drinking from the same cup, eating from the same
plate, the dividing by a hungry soldier with a hungrier comrade the last morsel
of meat or the remnant of a cracker; the binding up of each other's wounds, the
lending of courage from one heart to another: these are what create the
strongest bonds between human beings.
Horace H. Shaw
THE LENDING OF COURAGE FROM ONE HEART TO ANOTHER
I have a purpose in life, and that's been to help other military families
through some of what I had to go through. If I had to go through it myself in
order to help others, I'm okay with that.
Robert Barrera
I LOVED HIM FOR WHO HE WAS IN HIS HEART AND HE STILL HAD
THAT. AN I LOVED HIM FOR WHAT HE HAD IN HIS MIND. AND HE STILL HAD THAT.
My wife means everything to me. And she's also been my therapy. They got me to
talk about it. People didn't understand that it is so painful to discuss. As I'm
talking to you right now, there are tears running down my face. Since the war,
I've been confined to a wheelchair and have tried to live a good life. However,
I relive the war every day.
Dean Winters
I FELT A SPECIAL COMPASSION FOR THESE YOUNG MEN.
I felt a special compassion for these young men with torn-up faces. The wounds
one could see were often less severe than the psychological injuries they
brought with them. My heart went out to each of them.
Martha Cameron
FAITH THAT MANIFESTS ITSELF IN A FEROCIOUS FDETERMINATION
TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP - THE ONE THAT EVERYONE ELSE SAYS IS IMPOSSIBLE.
In the end, what gets people through a physical of emotional crisis is not new
technology or medication. Those things can help of course. But it's faith that
gives you the strength to endure - faith that won't allow you to give up; faith
that manifests itself in a ferocious determination to take the next step - the
one that everyone else says is impossible.
Bob Dole
When you're young, you're invincible. You're immortal. I
thought I'd come back. Perhaps I wouldn't, there was that thought, too, but I
had this feeling that I would come back. Underneath that feeling, these was
another, that maybe I wouldn't be quite the same, but I felt I'd make it
back.
Michael A. Naranjo
We start by not thinking so much anymore about what you
have lost. You must think about what you have left ... and what you can do with
it.
Dr. Hampar Kelikian
THERE ARE LIFE-THREATENING INJUSRIES TO CONFRON AND
SURMOUNT LIFE-CHANGING DISABILITIES TO MEET AND MASTER. AND LIFE-SHAPING
EXPERIENCES TO MAKE PEACE WITH AND UNDERSTAND
For every tragic story of a life unraveled by military battle, there are a dozen
tales of individuals who have managed to triumph over the harrowing experiences
of war and ruin.
Jesse Brown
I SHALL RECALL WITH REVERENCE THOSE WHO FOUGHT BESIDE ME AND DIED.
I shall recall with respect those who fought with me and were scarred by
bullets, left limbless by bombs. I shall recall with humility those who were
stronger and braver than me. And I shall recall - with celebration and joy our
nation's heritage of selfless sacrifice and commitment to the common good.
Billy E. Kirby
It's not what you've lost that counts, it's what you do
with what's left.
Charlie McGonegal
In a way, I'm special, I thought. I'm a member of a unique
group. It could be the end of the world for me, or it could be the beginning of
a whole new life.
Harold Russell
I DON'T CARE HOW PREPARED YOU ARE WHEN IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS,
IT'S A DIFFERENT STORY.
Everybody was running around all over the place. Nobody knew what was happening.
Nobody knew what to do next. I felt so alone, watching what was happening. By
this point, I knew I'd be hurt, but I just wanted to find someone from my
company.
Felecia Weston
How is a life replaced - the companionship, nurturing, love
and support of a husband and father. We were totally unprepared for and were
devastated by years of illness.
Joan McCarthy
I AM ALWAYS PROUD OF MY SERVICE
Yes, I wished things would have worked out a little better for me but I did come
home alive and had a fairly successful life.
George Robert Sullivan
It's possible for a man to lose half of his physical being
and still become whole. Before I lost my limbs I was only half a man. Now I've
developed some humility. I can look at the average person and understand him,
where before O looked only at myself.
Theodore Strong, Jr.
Source: NPS Website (2019/2020)
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