Viet Nam, (sculpture).

Viet Nam, (sculpture).

Szosz, Merlin, sculptor.

Crozier, Gregory, architect.

Corrado, Alba, assistant.

Mendenhall, Reid Powers, assistant.

Providence Granite Company, fabricator.

Smith & Mahoney, contractor.

Paul King Foundry, founder.

Crozier Associates, architectural firm.

Viet Nam, (sculpture).

Albany Vietnam Veterans Memorial, (sculpture).

Installed June 1990. Tablet cast: May 1991. Bas-relief cast: April-May 1992. Dedicated May 30, 1992.

Digital Reference:

Reliefs: bronze; Sculpture: Pink Samba granite; Base: Pink Samba granite.

Sculpture overall: approx. 17 x 8 x 5 ft.; Each relief: approx. 5 ft. 6 in. x 5 ft. 9 in. x 2 ft.; Base: approx. W. 13 ft. x D. 11 ft. x Diam. 35 ft. (64 tons).

(On proper left lower corner of sculpture:) (artist's signature or foundry mark) (On bronze plaque, east face of sculpture:) This Memorial Honors/Our Young Men Who Were Killed In Action/In The Viet Nam War, Or Who Were Killed As/A Consequence Of Wounds Sustained There/Or Who Remained Missing. To This Day/May 27, 1991/(list of names)/VIET NAM signed

A tall monument adorned on the front with a bronze relief depicting two Vietnam War soldiers, one carrying his wounded comrade through the heavy vegetation. He wears a combat vest and has a scarf wrapped around his head. The wounded soldier lays back diagonally across the relief, his feet on the lower left side, and his head in the upper right side. He is bare-chested and dressed in combat pants and boots. His limp proper left leg is in high relief and protrudes from the tablet. On the back of the monument is a bronze inscription plaque adorned with reliefs of vegetation and a broken palm frond. The monument rests on a flat, circular base within a planter. Ornate granite steps and decorative curbing lead up to the front and rear faces. Beyond the outer curbing are four ornate gas lamps equally spaced around the circle.

History -- United States -- Vietnam War

Figure group -- Male

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

State of Being -- Illness -- Wound

Object -- Foliage -- Palm

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Albany

Administered by City of Albany, Department of Public Works, 1 Connors Boulevard, Albany, New York

Located Lafayette Park, West end, between North Hawk, Elk & Washington Streets, Albany, New York

The sculpture cost $500,000 and it honors the men of Albany who were killed in action in the Vietnam War, those who died as a consequence of wounds sustained in Viet Nam, those who remain missing in action, and Canadian Vietnam veterans and those Canadians killed in the Vietnam War. In 1987 the City of Albany made an initial grant of $50,000, allowing for commissioning of the sculpture. The Albany Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee was established jointly by the City of Albany and the Tri County Vietnam Era Veterans to oversee the sculpture project. Funding came from many sources, including donations from Vietnam Veterans organizations, $50,000 from the County of Albany, $25,000 from the State of New York, $25,000 from the towns of Colonie, Guilderland, Bethlehem and others, and contributions from private benefactors. Members of local trade unions and volunteers participated in the sculpture project.

The bas-relief is modeled after a famous photograph in Time magazine. Both plaques are embellished with vegetation indigenous to Southeast Asia, including a palm frond, the historic symbol of victory. The broken palm frond on the rear inscription plaque symbolizes defeat. During the course of investigating the names that would appear on the sculpture, the Tri County Council Vietnam Era Veterans discovered that Army Sergeant Donald P. Davies, listed in government records as being from Albany, was actually from Lachine, Quebec, Canada. His only association with Albany was a bus ride there to enlist. The council voted to include his name on the sculpture in order to honor those Canadians killed in Vietnam and Canadian Vietnam veterans generally. On the plaque, his name is adorned by two maple leaves. The sculpture was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1992.

Gregory Crozier of Crozier Associates was the architect for the project. The bronze inscription plaque and relief plaque were cast at Paul King Foundry in Johnston, Rhode Island. Contractors for the sculpture project were the Providence Granite Company of Providence, Rhode Island, Smith & Mahoney of Albany, and many others. The Pink Samba granite was quarried in Brazil and hand-cut in Portugal. The artist designed a new lettering style specifically for the inscription plaque and the lettering was executed by Alba Corrado of the Rhode Island School of Design. In addition to designing the sculpture, the artist designed the entire site, including the bluestone paving surrounding the sculpture and the bronze gas lanterns. Rhode Island School of Design's Reid Powers Mendenhall created the casts and fabricated the lanterns. IAS files contain the dedication brochure which includes a complete listing of all funders and participating contractors, builders, trade unions, government agencies, municipalities, and community benefactors. IAS files contain a promotional brochure; a brochure from the ground breaking ceremony, dated May 18, 1989; and an article from Modern Paint and Coatings (April 1991).

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1994.

Modern Paint and Coatings (April 1991).

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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