American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial
| American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
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American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial nearing completion in August 2014
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| Location | Washington, D.C., United States |
| Coordinates | 38°53′11″N 77°0′48″W / 38.88639°N 77.01333°WCoordinates: 38°53′11″N 77°0′48″W / 38.88639°N 77.01333°W |
| Area | 2.4 acres (9,700 m2) |
| Established | October 5, 2014 |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | NPS: American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial |
The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C., which honors veterans of the armed forces of the United States who were permanently disabled during the course of their national service. Congress adopted legislation establishing the memorial on October 23, 2000, authorizing the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial Foundation to design, raise funds for, and construct the memorial. The fundraising goal was reached in mid-2010, and ground for the memorial broken on November 10, 2010. The memorial was dedicated by President Barack Obama on October 5, 2014.
In 1995, Lois Pope, widow of National Enquirer owner Generoso Pope Jr., met a disabled American veteran at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and realized there was no memorial in the city which honored disabled veterans. Although she did not know him, Pope called the office of United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jesse Brown to plead for a memorial. Pope called every day for the next six months, until finally Brown's secretary put her call through. Brown agreed to support legislation establishing a memorial. Because the Commemorative Works Act (CWA) of 1986 (P.L. 99-625) barred the expenditure of federal funds for memorials, a foundation needed to be established to oversee private fundraising. Brown introduced Pope to Art Wilson, the National Adjutant (e.g., chief executive officer) of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), an organization founded in 1920 to assist disabled veterans. The DAV was itself not a nonprofit, and thus Pope and Wilson agreed that a new foundation, the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial Foundation (DVLMF; also known as the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation) should be created. Brown (who left office in 1997), Pope, and Wilson incorporated the foundation in 1998, and Wilson was named its president.
The three individuals and their supporters began lobbying Congress to win passage of the necessary federal legislation. The effort was announced on November 9, 1998. They received the support of Senators John McCain (R-Arizona), Max Cleland (D-Georgia), and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), who introduced legislation authorizing a memorial in the United States Senate in January 1999 (106th Congress). Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania).
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