Living Memorial Sculpture Garden

During the summer of 1987, Ric A. Delugo, a Vietnam veteran and artist, had a vision of creating a living memorial to honor the fallen American service people of the Vietnam War. He wanted to dedicate a forest grove consisting of more than 58,000 trees, with each tree representing one of the fallen soldiers. To bring his idea to life, Ric spent weeks searching for an old friend and artist, Dennis Smith, who was also a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War and had a gift for creating large steel sculptures that expressed grace. Dennis was also contemplating a similar vision and the two veterans decided to join forces for the project. Currently, the project has resulted in the creation of 11 sculpture groups, all crafted by artist Dennis Smith.
(Submitted by Louise C)