In Memory Memorial plaque project, incorporated as a nonprofit advocacy group in 1996. Coder, of Des Moines, Iowa, died in 1992, of non-Hodgkins lymphoma attributed to Agent Orange exposure. The veterans are now recognized at an annual observance in April, formerly held twice a year on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, in which certificates and mementos are left at The Wall. The ceremonies, originated by the now-discontinued Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial organization, are now conducted by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and have no direct connection with the plaque project. Service-related postwar death statistics are not kept, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Vietnam Veterans of America.
Estimates range widely for the continuing toll of the country's longest war.
While the In Memory project's supporters do not seek to add the names of postwar casualties, they have always held firmly to their concept of a simple plaque on the Memorial grounds to honor the memory of these Americans. Their concept of an unobtrusive, ground-level plaque is intended to reinforce the Wall's legendary emotional healing power without compromising its architectural integrity. In Memory Memorial, Inc. advisory board until his death, January 2. There is still a great deal of pain from this war, people who died and people who are dying still as a result of the war. As such it sets no precedent, but rather closes the book and completes the Memorial.