3 Names Added To Vietnam Memorial

(AP)  The name of Army Sgt. Richard M. Pruett is now etched into the glossy black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — nearly four decades after he was wounded during a combat mission in South Vietnam.

His wife, Ann, wiped away tears as Pruett's name was added to the memorial Thursday. "He would be so honored. It is the ultimate honor, I think, to be on the wall," she said.

Richard Pruett, who was from Sherman, Texas, died in 2005 from complications related to wounds received during the war, making him eligible for inclusion on the memorial on the National Mall.

Also joining those honored on the wall are Navy Fireman Apprentice Joseph Gerald Krywicki of Holton, Mich., and Army Spc. Wesley Alvin Stiverson of Monticello, Ill.

Krywicki was killed in 1966 in Vietnam when a member of his unit accidentally discharged his rifle. The Navy initially declined to add Krywicki's name to the memorial because he died not in combat but in a "friendly fire" incident. The Navy reversed course following inquiries from his family.

Stiverson sustained fragmentation wounds in 1971 when his base camp came under fire in Vietnam. The Pentagon determined that his death in 2005 was directly related to those wounds.

The Defense Department decides which names are to be inscribed on the wall. Victims of Agent Orange and suicides resulting from post-traumatic stress disorder do not meet the Pentagon's guidelines for inclusion, according to the memorial's Web site.

Since the memorial was dedicated in 1982, a few names have been added each year, said Jan Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

Engraving each new name, he said, is a painstaking and meticulous process. The stonecarvers take great care to get the new name to match the depth, within one-thousandth of an inch, of the names already on the wall.

The names of Americans killed or missing in Vietnam are listed on the wall by date of casualty. The new names are being added to panels of the wall that are closest to the dates that the men were wounded, in keeping with the vision of memorial designer Maya Lin.

Ann Pruett said her husband was wounded while on patrol in 1969. He had taken off his flak jacket to sit down near a tree on a hot, humid day. Someone, she said, tripped a wire that set off an explosive device and Pruett was seriously wounded.

"He had shrapnel everywhere," said his wife.

His lower intestines, she said, were destroyed. Despite his wounds, he went on to start a construction company and enjoy his grandchildren. He died in 2005 from intestinal complications related to the 1969 explosion.

Ann Pruett said her husband had always talked about bringing her to the wall. He had been to visit the memorial with his sisters, but not with his wife.

She finally made the trip on Thursday.

"I feel like in this case, he brought me to the wall," she said. "I just wish he could be with me."

[sneakypetejr]

I lost my father 7 years ago to cancer cuased by agent orange. My father was a highly decorated Veteran who gave it all for his country. It is wrong the way our government is treating our veterans.They are turning there backs and this is not right. we need to pull together and take a stand for those who served for us and fight this battle for them as they fought for us. If there is anyone out there willing to help with this please email me at [e-mail]
Thank-you,sneakypetes little girl

[grammawhamma]

My husband died four years ago from cancer caused by agent orange. The veteran's administration does acknowledge certain types of cancer and also now diabetes are agent orange related. Check this out with your local VA. Because of this I recieve widow benefits from the government and so did my children until they turned 18. Anyone who was in Vietnam should check out what benefits are available to them. I would like it if they would start a wall for agent orange deaths...my husband thought he survived Vietnam....but years later found out he didn't.

[gunnerone2]

ColonieNY. If the 54 people who were murdered were black and the killers were white then you can bet it would still be talked about. They should be remembered but its not politically correct to do so.
As far as the Agent Orange vets are concerned,they were injured just as much as any other combat vet. It makes no sense to me to deny them the right to be listed on the wall.

[rainyday9]

As the wife of a Vietnam veteran, I think the whole wall is "too little too late", and not to include those who die from Agent Orange contact... come on. We are urged to support our troops in Irag on a daily basis... no one supported my husband, then or now.

[dtsingin]

Back to agent orange, my boyfriend has had diabetes ever since he returned from viet nam in 1971....it took the government 27 years to say that yes indeed it was caused from his contact with agent orange...in the meantime, every job he applied for and worked at kept him until they found out about his diabetes and then they wouldn't hire him...he had five little boys to take care of...how do you do that without a job???? He is really lucky to still be alive...he does 5 shots of insulin everyday of his life, it runs his life...it has now become his full time job...I am just glad that he is still here, he is one of the most wonderful men I have ever met, inspite of his disease.

[mcvet]

It is not right what the VA and the Government are doing with the Agent Orange Vets who die from Cancer or related Illness's. I can still smell the scent of that Chemical as it hung in the air. So far I am the lucky one but not so for 3 of the 5 in my unit beside myself who were lucky enough to get out alive. They have all died the same way. The first, Gordy, went within MONTHS after returning. Then came Sputnick some 2 and 1/2 years later. Last was Ray Ray. He lasted until last year but his was the worst case of Cancer the doc said he'd ever seen. All of them died as a result of that God awlful War and should be honored.

[dtsingin]

I agree with creeper00...does our government think that the veterans of viet nam would have had these complications from agent orange if they would have stayed in the US and not gone to war???? PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!

[creeper00]

Victims of Agent Orange are not eligible for inclusion on the Wall? That's pathetic. It seems the Pentagon disrespects our soldiers more than the peaceniks.

[colonieny]

ANOTHER MEMORIAL _ IN LA_ 54 KILLED ?
Any death too soon is tragic and that person should be remembered. The tragedy is what was missed. These brave men and women deserved so much more from our country. So too, I am waiting some 15 years for Los Angeles to memoralize the 54 innocent people who were brutally murdered by the mob that took over that City in 1992. I can not even find their names, as the (PCbrave) Los Angeles Times has erased all references to these murders from the search engine and data base, as though it never happened ! As though these people were not killed. Their recent report as an "update" did not even mention those poor average Joes, and Janes - most just coming home from work-- like you and me-- who were dragged from their cars and killed, for being ? I don't understand.
When will they too have a memorial in their honor ? Are they just forgotten ? Erased from memory ?