Vietnam War Memorial Defaced In California With Graffiti


Just ahead of Memorial Day, vandals defaced a Vietnam War memorial in Venice, California, with spray paint, covering up the names of American service members who went missing in action. Shockingly, two other memorials were vandalized this weekend as well, including a memorial in Kentucky and a Civil War veterans’ cemetery in Virginia.

The Vietnam War memorial has been tagged previously, and the graffiti design used matches other tags in the area. The bottom half of the memorial is covered from end-to-end with spray paint. The memorial was defaced earlier this week and was first noticed by Stewart Oscars, a resident of Venice, according to CBS Los Angeles. Oscars found the graffiti on Wednesday evening and reported the vandalism to authorities.

“It’s like a direct attack. If you have any sense of history, you’d never do this.

“This knocked me out. So sickening. Just sadness…think of all these people. They’re gone. I remember the Vietnam War and how friends went to war, and bodies came back. Somehow, it has to be taught that this is not a good idea. This is actually stupid.”

Located on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Painted on a block-long wall, the memorial lists the names of American service members missing in action, prisoners of war, or otherwise unaccounted for. There are 2,273 names listed with the caption, “You are not forgotten.” The Vietnam War memorial was painted by Vietnam veteran and artist Peter Stewart and was dedicated in 1992.

In 1973, 2,646 Americans were listed as unaccounted for according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Half of those were missing-in-action, while the others were killed-in-action but whose bodies were not recovered.

George Francisco, who serves as the vice president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce and also runs a nonprofit called Veterans Foundation Inc., brought a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in March to Venice Beach. Francisco, whose father served two Vietnam combat tours as a Green Beret, was devastated when he found out about the vandalism.

“It’s a desecration. I mean it’s very simple. There’s no sort of other way around it. I’ve known the sacrifices these people made in an incredibly unpopular war. So to continue the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans is somewhat shocking, somewhat shocking and quite sad.”

NBC Southern California reports cleanup was planned Sunday. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department believes restoring the memorial won’t be easy since the vandals used a thick coat of silver paint. “Blasting” off the graffiti might be too risky; officials plan to have the memorial professionally restored to minimize the risk of damage.

In Virginia, a Civil War veterans cemetery was also defaced. Looters dug up the Petersburg National Battlefield looking for historic relics. The battlefield is now an active crime scene as investigators explore which relics may have been taken, according to the National Park Service.

In a press release Friday, agency spokesman Jeffrey Olson said numerous excavations across the battlefield were found last week. The battlefield is 2,700 acres and marks the location where more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died fighting during the Siege of Petersburg 151-years ago.

In addition to the defacing of memorials in California and Virginia, a memorial in Kentucky was vandalized as well, the New York Daily News reports. Anthony Burrus, 27, was arrested for destroying almost 200 crosses after police found them in the back of his pickup truck.

The Memorial Day cross display honors 5,000 veterans from Henderson, Kentucky, dating back to the Revolutionary War, and the community is livid at the disrespect Burrus showed.

“For somebody to do this to a veteran who gave his life, I don’t understand. I don’t have any words. I’m speechless,” Jim Hanley, a member of the Legion, said.

Jennifer Richmond, a spokesperson for the Henderson Police Department, said work is being done to repair and replace the crosses in the Memorial Day display for a ceremony that will take place in Central Park. She said Burrus drove through the crosses, but investigators aren’t sure if it was an accident or done on purpose. Burrus was charged with criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident.

Regarding the Vietnam War memorial, at this time, there are no suspects or arrests, and various sources are reporting that the Los Angeles Police Department will not be investigating the case.

[Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]

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