Jan Scruggs

Jan Craig Scruggs (born March 11, 1950) is a United States Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, and later founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Scruggs was the President of the foundation until 2015, when he retired.

Early life and military career Scruggs was born on March 11, 1950, in Bowie, Maryland to James and Louise Scruggs. He was the youngest of their four children. His mother, who had dropped out of school in the eighth grade, worked as a waitress. With his parents unable to afford college Scruggs spent three months in the hospital, then returned to combat duty.

In November 1969, Scruggs was involved in another firefight with the Viet Cong. During the battle, he retrieved a weapon from the battlefield while under fire,

Scruggs left the Army in March 1970 as a corporal,

Beginning in 1977, Scruggs began working as an investigator in the equal opportunity employment office at the United States Department of Labor. He also said he would indulge his hobbies of sailing, hiking, and skeet shooting.

Scruggs occasionally writes for Vietnam Magazine, Army Times and the New York Times.

Book, awards and film In 1983, Scruggs received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given annually by Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

In 1985, Scruggs published a memoir titled To Heal a Nation. The book was made into a 1988 television film, with Eric Roberts as Scruggs and Glynnis O'Connor as his wife, Becky.