ITEMS LEFT AT THE WALL

Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM) granite test panel engraved with the names of forty-two (42) Wall honorees from various branches of the United States military. The block was originally utilized by workmen engraving the VVM in 1982 in order to test and confirm various aspects of the Memorial aesthetic and design. The artifact was accessioned into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection (VIVE) via transfer on January 16, 1991.

VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL (VVM) WALL GRANITE TEST PANEL DEDICATED TO U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) ROBERT JAMES MANIAS, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) BRYAN LEE WILKEN, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 5 (SP5) THOMAS WAYNE BICKFORD, U.S. ARMY STAFF SERGEANT (SSG) ROBERT LEWIS KING, U.S. ARMY WARRANT OFFICER 1 (WO1) MICHAEL EUGENE LUKOW, U.S. ARMY FIRST LIEUTENANT (1LT) LANCE DAVIS WORKMAN, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT (SGT) CURTIS GLENN VAN WINKLE, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) WILLIAM RANDALL ROBISON, U.S. ARMY FIRST LIEUTENANT (1LT) HOWARD JOHN BECKER JR, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) STEPHEN ANDREW BEDNAR, U.S. ARMY PRIVATE FIRST CLASS (PFC) ALEXANDER WILLI DUPLESSIE, U.S. ARMY FIRST LIEUTENANT (1LT) ROBERT MERCHANT LARSON, U.S. ARMY CAPTAIN (CPT) TED JAMES TAYLOR, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) JOHN HENRY LOPOCHONSKY JR, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) ALLEN EARL NOBLE, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) GREGORY IRVING SAHLBERG, U.S. ARMY WARRANT OFFICER 1 (WO1) JAY STEVEN ASTON, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) STEVEN JEFFERY MINKLER, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) CHARLES W ROBERTS JR, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) RUDOLPH STEVENS, U.S. ARMY MAJOR (MAJ) ALBERT EUGENE PETERSON JR, U.S. ARMY PRIVATE FIRST CLASS (PFC) JOHN LAWRENCE FETHEROLF, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) GERRY DON COULT, U.S. ARMY FIRST LIEUTENANT (1LT) LUIS JOSE MONROIG, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) MARGARITO RODRIQUEZ GOMEZ, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) TONY ANGUIANO, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) RONALD NELIONAL GOODWIN, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) STEPHEN ELLIS SLOCUM, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT (SGT) CHARLES RICKEY HARRIS, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 4 (SP4) JOHN CALVIN HALSEY, U.S. ARMY PRIVATE FIRST CLASS (PFC) DANNY LEE LIGHTSEY, U.S. ARMY STAFF SERGEANT (SSG) LINWOOD LEE BAKER, U.S. ARMY CORPORAL (CPL) RALPH EDWARD MCELRATH, U.S. NAVY ENGINEMAN PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS (EN2) CLIFFORD FRANKLIN DOWLING, U.S. ARMY SPECIALIST 5 (SP5) RANDALL HAROLD GEIS, U.S. ARMY FIRST LIEUTENANT (1LT) JOHN ALBERT GROSS, U.S. NAVY SEAMAN (SN) ROBERT EUGENE SCHULZE, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT FIRST CLASS (SFC) DOMENIC SMIGLIANI, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT (SGT) KEN HARRIS TAKETA, U.S. ARMY STAFF SERGEANT (SSG) CHARLES CLARK, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT (SGT) ROBERT LEROY WILLARD, U.S. ARMY COLONEL (COL) EDWARD JOSEPH CAVANAUGH, & U.S. AIR FORCE STAFF SERGEANT (SSGT) ALLEN HOWELL CLARK. THE OBJECT CONSISTS OF A PRECISELY CUT, RECTANGULARLY SHAPED BLOCK OF POLISHED BLACK GRANITE OF A CUT AND COMPOSITION IDENTICAL TO THOSE UTILIZED TO CONSTRUCT THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL (VVM). AT THE OBVERSE OBJECT SURFACE, THE PANEL IS ENGRAVED WITH THE NAMES OF FORTY-TWO (42) VVM WALL HONOREES IN THE EXACT STYLE (I.E. FONT, ENGRAVED DEPTH, ETC.) AS THAT EMPLOYED UPON THE ACTUAL MEMORIAL WALL. AT THE REVERSE OBJECT SURFACE, THE STONE IS MARKED WITH EIGHT (8) SWATCHES OF RED SPRAY PAINT IN FOUR (4) COLUMNS OF TWO (2) SWATCHES EACH. ACCORDING TO VIVE CATALOG NOTES PREPARED BY MRCE COLLECTIONS STAFF, THE BLOCKS WERE UTILIZED BY WORKMEN ENGRAVING THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL (VVM) IN 1982 IN ORDER TO TEST AND CONFIRM VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE MEMORIAL DESIGN, INCLUDING: PANEL/ENGRAVED INSCRIPTION DEPTH, ENGRAVED FONT, MATERIAL LOAD, AND AESTHETIC APPEARANCE, AMONG OTHERS.

Text of the engraved inscriptions upon the obverse object surface is transcribed in full, as follows: "ANIAS [incomplete name] ◊ BRYAN L WILKEN ◊ THOMAS W BICKFORD ◊ ROBERT L KING / MICHAEL E LUKOW ◊ LANCE D WORKMAN ◊ CURTIS G VAN WINKLE / WILLIAM R ROBISON ◊ HOWARD J BECKER Jr ◊ STEPHEN A BEDNAR / KEY [incomplete name] ◊ ALEXANDER W DUPLESSIE ◊ ROBERT M LARSON ◊ TED J TAYLOR / HONSKY Jr [incomplete name] ◊ ALLEN E NOBEL ◊ GREGORY I SAHLBERG ◊ JAY S ASTON / STEPHEN J MINKLER ◊ CHARLES W ROBERTS Jr ◊ RUDOLPH STEVENS / ALBERT E PETERSON Jr ◊ JOHN L FETHEROLF ◊ GERRY DON COULT / MONROIG [incomplete name] ◊ MARGARITO RODRIQUEZ GOMEZ ◊ TONY ANGUIANO / RONALD N GOODWIN ◊ STEPHEN E SLOCUM ◊ CHARLES R HARRIS / VAN [incomplete name] ◊ JOHN C HALSEY ◊ DANNY LEE LIGHTSEY ◊ LINWOOD L BAKER / LRATH [incomplete name] ◊ CLIFFORD F DOWLING ◊ RANDALL H GEIS ◊ JOHN A GROSS / SCHULZE ◊ DOMENIC SMIGLIANI ◊ KEN H TAKETA ◊ CHARLES CLARK / TT [incomplete name] ◊ ROBERT L WILLARD ◊ EDWARD J CAVANAUGH ◊ ALLEN H CLARK"

Item Weight: 58.5kg (58,967g)
Item Width: 61.0cm
Item Height: 30.5cm
Item Depth: 10.0cm (Panel depth)