A brief tour of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and the Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center are companion projects that complement one another.
The Memorial honors the sacrifices made by New Jersey residents who gave their lives while serving in Southeast Asia and, at the same time, pays tribute to all who have served.
The idea for the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial had its beginnings on Veterans Day, November 11,1982. A contingent of New Jersey veterans attending the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. realized the need for just such a memorial in the State of New Jersey. Working with state legislators, veterans and community groups, and individuals too numerous to list, they saw the process begin to take shape over the next 3 years.
On January 21, 1986, Governor Tom Kean signed into law the bill that created a 14 member New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Committee. The committee’s charter was to select a suitable location for the construction, conduct a competition for the design of a memorial honoring New Jersey’s veterans of the Vietnam conflict, determine methods of financing the construction, and to initiate fundraising. Included in the bill was a one-time grant of $25,000 to fund the design contest.
In the spring of 1986, the committee selected the 5.5-acre site on the grounds of the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, Monmouth County, from a list of 6 possible sites from across New Jersey. Dedication ceremonies were held at the site in the spring of 1987. A design contest was held from the spring of 1987 to the spring of 1988, drawing over 400 entries that were judged by a select panel of experts from the arts, historic, and Veterans communities in New Jersey.