Summary
Organization name
Tarrant County Vietnam Memorial Foundation Inc.
Operating Budget
Less than $100,000
Counties Served
Tarrant
Equity Statement
Equity Statement
Address
4600 Mark IV PkwyFort Worth, TX 76161
About
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The Vietnam Conflict was a challenging time in American history. It took a heavy toll on the collective psyche. For the first time in our Nations’ history, service members came back to a divided and often ungrateful country. Some who served then have yet to be welcomed home, while others made the ultimate sacrifice.
At least 221 Tarrant County residents died as a result of the conflict in Vietnam. They’ve been identified as service members with Tarrant County as their home of record or are buried in the county’s cemeteries.
Currently, there’s no local memorial to honor those who died as a result of the conflict in Southeast Asia. Lead by Jim Hodgson, director of the Fort Worth Aviation Museum, the Tarrant County Vietnam Memorial Foundation (TCVMF) has been established.
TCVMF has begun a fundraising campaign focused on designing, building, and dedicating a monument to honor these service members. As well as those that have succumbed to problems associated with Vietnam service, such as Agent Orange. The memorial envisioned is intended to be a permanent display in Fort Worth’s Veterans Memorial Park on Camp Bowie Blvd.
Back in 2020, a contest was proposed to every school in the Fort Worth Independent School District – seeking designs for the memorial. The submission by Ryan Scieneaux, a former student at Brewer High School, proposed a memorial tree with leaves listing the Tarrant County residents who died serving during that era.
The concept has been further developed by sculptor Michael Pavlosky and landscape architect Nicolas Nelson. The final design for the memorial is a work in progress with active participation by the City of Fort Worth Parks Dept. and the city’s Arts Council.
TCVMF is confident this effort will be welcomed by fallen servicemember families and friends, as well as citizens and veterans across North Texas. This campaign will require a community effort in order to recognize the sacrifices made by those brave individuals.
This project cannot be completed without the generosity of the community. TCVMF is appealing to civic and business leaders, national and local veterans service organizations, as well as patriotic groups and individuals across North Texas to make this memorial a reality.
Mission
Lead a coalition of Tarrant County officials, the Fort Worth Parks Dept., national and local veterans service organizations, as well as patriotic groups and individuals across North Texas in designing, building and installing a memorial to those military veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice in Southeast Asia
Needs
The Foundation's goal is to install the memorial by 2026. Setting a financial goal has been difficult due to the unstable cost and availability of materials. Our engineering consults and sculptor estimate the cost at $500,000
How Can You Help?
Financially this project cannot be completed without the generosity of the community.
Volunteer We can always use help on committees and at fundraising events.
In-Kind Donations of material or services will be greatly appreciated.
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Equity Statement
The Tarrant County Vietnam Memorial Foundation was formed to continue the work begun in 2015 by a group dedicated veterans to see a memorial to the Vietnam War fallen of the Tarrant County, Texas. Its goal is to design, finance, and build a monument inscribed with the names of all veterans of this County who died as a result of the Vietnam War.
President Ronald Reagan when he was giving his Gubernatorial Address to California Jan 5, 1967, said “Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”
The Vietnam War was an ugly and harsh time that took a toll on our men and nation like no other war. For the first time in our nations’ history our heroes came back to a divided and mostly ungrateful nation. Many still have not been properly welcomed home. Others gave the ultimate sacrifice and still others are dying due to the effects of Agent Orange.
At least 221 Tarrant County residents died as a result of the conflict in Vietnam. Currently, there’s no local monument to honor those killed in Southeast Asia. The Tarrant County Vietnam Memorial Foundation's mission is to have a memorial established in their honor. It will take a community effort to finally recognize the sacrifice that was made by these brave individuals with a permanent display in Fort Worth’s Veterans Memorial Park on Camp Bowie Blvd.
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Organization Data
Fort Worth, TX 76161