A $1million memorial dedicated to Vietnam War veterans is set to be torn down just a year after a fraud scandal plagued the community behind the project.
California officials announced the memorial in 2023 as a way to honor Vietnamese soldiers allied with the US during the war.
The construction began in the upscale Orange County neighborhood, which is also home to the largest Vietnamese population in the US.
Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do spearheaded the project, allocating $1 million in taxpayer funds to the Viet America Society nonprofit.
It was later revealed that Do was funneling money through the organization for his personal gain, and the disgraced politician was sentenced to five years in prison on conspiracy charges as a result.
Do’s fall from grace left the Vietnam War memorial in shambles, with new leadership appalled by the shoddy construction.
A county report obtained by the Los Angeles Times found that repairing the unfinished monument would cost between $168,000 and $420,000, with an additional $40,000 to finish engraving the names of fallen soldiers.
Since demolition would only cost a fraction of that estimate, county officials opted to start the project from scratch.
Crews arrived at Mile Square Regional Park this week to tear down what remained of Do’s tarnished legacy.
His successor and former political rival, Janet Nguyen, called the monument a ‘disgrace’ in a statement to the Daily Mail.
‘The county decided to tear down the wall because we can do better. This memorial is a disgrace to veterans and not the respect they deserve. We have been looking for alternative options, including a space at the new veteran’s cemetery,’ she added.
Nguyen told California news outlet, KTLA, in November that it was ‘heartbreaking’ to see how veterans were honored.
The new county supervisor added that the monument was not even accessible to those with disabilities.
Veterans from Vietnam are now elderly, but the monument was designed in a part of the park without a wheelchair-accessible path.
‘What was the point?’ Nguyen questioned at a press conference in November.
‘They … put up these cheap materials that are getting worn down already within not even a year, just so they could launder the rest of the money themselves.’
Hellbound and Down 