Several hundred people attended the Tri Ân Monument dedication ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Park in Jeffersontown, Ky. on sunny Oct. 9, 2023. Jeffersontown Mayor Carol Pike made remarks during the dedication ceremony, other speakers included retired U.S. Army Major General D. Allen Youngman, Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis, U.S. Army Major General Lapthe C. Flora and Founder and Chairman of the Tri Ân Foundation Yung Nguyen. Celebration featured band of the 101st Airborne Division and cannon salute by 2nd Battalion, 138 Field Artillery. Members of the armed forces also attended the ceremony.
A diverse group of citizens has conceived idea of a monument of thanksgiving; a place of special recognition for the tremendous sacrifices the American and South Vietnamese Armed Forces made during the Vietnam War in order to give the Vietnamese people a chance to live in freedom. Tri-An means “deep gratitude” in the Vietnamese language. Grega Vezjak’s design was selected in January 2017 in an international competition featuring more than 120 project. The pandemic restrictions and supply chain issues delayed shipments of the 270 tons of granite needed for the memorial, but after the groundbreaking ceremony in December 2022 construction progressed rapidly. The monument is built from granite sourced from Vietnam. Eight columns symbolize the eight allied nations that provided troops to fight against the Communists. A 120-foot wall shows images from the war and of Vietnamese people fleeing the Communist regime.
The monument is dedicated to Vietnam Veterans. It was paid for by the Tri-Ân Foundation, a group of private citizens, many of whom are immigrants from South Vietnam. Yung Nguyen, chairman of the Tri An Foundation, made remarks during the Tri An Monument dedication ceremony. “It means so much for us,” Tri Ân Foundation founder and chairman Yung Nguyen said. “We came here seeking freedom and this is an opportunity that we have to thank everybody who fought for Vietnam and to keep Vietnam free.” Vietnam was the longest war in American history and it resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and an estimated two million Vietnamese deaths.
More about the monument is available here.