On This Date In Twin Cities History - September 26, 1992

On this date in 1992, the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in St. Paul. The memorial, honoring Minnesotans who served in the Vietnam War, was was created by artists and architects Nina Ackerberg, Stanton Sears, Jake Castillo, and Rich Laffin and was built by the James Steele Construction Company. The memorial, titled “Lakefront DMZ”, features a sunken plaza surfaced with gray Minnesota granite, scored into 68,000 – 2″ x 2″ squares, representing all those who served from our state. Within that field are green granite squares representing the hometowns of the 1,077 Minnesotans who died and the 43 who are still missing. Full names are engraved on a green granite wall, anchored in place by Mankato limestone showing date of casualty and forming a bar graph illustrating America’s involvement in the war.

Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial in St. Paul (Photo courtesy Richard Laffin Architects)