California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, (sculpture).

California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, (sculpture).

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 after)

Shearer, Donnie L., photographer. (copy after)

Breedlove, Howard, photographer. (copy after)

West, Matthew, painter. (copy after)

Lohr, James, photographer. (copy after)

Burrows, Larry, photographer. (copy after)

Sandecki, Rose, photographer. (copy after)

White, Pam, photographer. (copy after)

Brennan, Thomas Richard, photographer. (copy after)

Evans, Penni, photographer. (copy after)

Nordhammer Foundry, founder.

California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, (sculpture).

Vietnam Memorial, (sculpture).

1988. Copyrighted Dec. 1988. Dedicated Dec. 10, 1988.

Digital Reference:

Memorial: black granite, concrete, and bronze; Base: ceramic and concrete.

Memorial: approx. H. 12 ft. x Diam. 22 ft.; Base: approx. W. 42 ft. x D. 60 ft. x Diam. 42 ft.

(On lower proper left of bas relief on the southeast quadrant:) Rolf Nord Kriken/Dec. 88 (copyright symbol)/Nordhammer (On plaque to the proper left of central sculpture in the memorial:) Take what they have left/and what they have taught you/with their dying/and keep it with your own./And in that time/when men decide and feel safe/to call war insane/take one moment to embrace/those gentle heroes/you left behind./Maj. Michael O'Donnell

(On plaque on center of the inside of the outer rear wall of memorial:) Dedication/The people of the State of California/dedicate the Monument to the memory/of those Californians who died, remain missing, in the/Vietnam War 1959-1975/and in doing so, Honor all the men/and women who served during that war./All gave some/Some Gave All/PHOTOS, ART AND CREATIVITY ARE PART OF THIS MEMORIAL. WE ESPECIALLY THANK PHIL/HITCHCOCK, ART CONSULTANT, HERMAN WOODS, 1ST CAVALRY, WHO GAVE US HIS DREAM/MICHAEL R. KELLEY, WAR ARTIST WHOSE EFFORTS ARE NOW REALITY: AND ROLF KRIKEN/ARTIST AND PRESIDENT OF NORDHAMMER FOUNDRY, KELSEYVILLE/CALIFORNIA WHO CREATED THE BRONZE PIECES. signed Founder's mark appears.

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.

History -- United States -- Vietnam War

State of Being -- Evil -- War

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Occupation -- Medicine -- Nurse

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

State of Being -- Other -- Imprisonment

Architecture -- Vehicle -- Airplane

Architecture -- Boat

Object -- Other -- Flag

Object -- Written Matter -- Constitution

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Sacramento

Administered by State of California, Building and Grounds, 1300 L Street, Sacramento, California 95814

Located Capitol Park, East of the state capitol, Sacramento, California

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. IAS files contain transcription of panel text and copy of dedication booklet. IAS files also contain articles from Sacramento Bee, Dec. 11, 1988, pg. A1, A16; and Sacramento Union, Dec. 11, 1988, pg. 3, 18. For additional reading see: Sacramento Bee, Dec. 8, 1988, pg. B1.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California, Sacramento survey, 1994.

Inventory staff, 2001.

Sacramento Bee, Dec. 11, 1988, pg. A1.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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