YORBA LINDA, Calif.—Over 100 people gathered at the Nixon Library March 29 to celebrate National Vietnam War Veterans Day including the installation of a life-sized bronze statue of a Vietnam War era Marine trudging forward into battle.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, which brought an end to American involvement on the ground in Vietnam under then-President Richard Nixon.
“We have a United States Marine slogging through one of the numberless rice paddies of Vietnam, but he could just as easily be the young American at Gettysburg, or one of the 41 million Americans who put on the uniform,” Robert Wilkie, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Veteran Affairs during the Trump Administration, told the audience of mostly Vietnam War veterans.
“It is fitting and proper that this magnificent monument is on the grounds of President Nixon’s birthplace,“ he added. ”When Richard Nixon left office, my father was home because [he] deeply believed in building a generation of peace.”
The sculpture was created by renowned artist Ron Pekar of Long Beach, California, to memorialize all who served in the military during Vietnam.
He said he went as far as wearing the uniform depicted in the statue to allow him to get a “better feel” for the monument for his creation.
“It was tough, and a difficult sculpture job, but I am so grateful to do this work,” Pekar told the audience. “He is running through the mud in a rice paddy—a typical setting during that time.”
Pekar said he underwent significant research for his accurate presentation which included military regulation “jungle boots,” hanging gear pockets, an assault rifle, and a combat helmet equipped with a rubber band to hold assorted items.
The artist said he thought it best to also include bug-repellent held in place by the rubber band in his design due to the experience of the soldiers in the wet, hot, bug-filled battlefield jungles of Vietnam.
National Vietnam War Veterans Day was established as an observance under the Trump Administration in 2017 after signing into law the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, as an opportunity to show appreciation for veterans and United States allies during the Vietnam war.
