Scope and Contents

Approximately two linear feet of audio tapes, video tapes, DVDs, newsletters and periodicals, photographs, stickers, internet printouts, newspaper clippings and articles, correspondence, administrative documents, transcripts, statements for H.R. 3293, and other documents and reports detail the Vietnam War In Memory Memorial, a grassroots project dedicated to placing a commemorative plaque at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring veterans who died after the war as a result of their service, including those who developed cancer due to Agent Orange exposure, suicide due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and various other maladies. The correspondence section is broken up into the following sections: Vietnam War In Memory Memorial, Inc., Congressional (1955-1999), Commission of Fine Arts (1995-1996), Fallen Warriors Foundation, and correspondence with Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. and actor Gary Sinise. Most materials are in good condition.

Biographical / Historical

Ruth Coder Fitzgerald established the Vietnam War In Memory Memorial, Inc. in 1995 to lobby for a plaque to be placed at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in honor of Veterans whose post-war deaths resulted from their tours of duty in Vietnam. Her brother, John Keath Coder, died on July 17, 1992 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as a result of exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. He served with the United States Air Force from 1965 to 1970. Coder was stationed at Da Nang, South Vietnam from April 1969 to April 1970 and was a helicopter pilot with the 37th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron.