The memorial to Vietnam veterans in Mile Square Park was supposed to be a smaller version of the revered Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., with an Orange County addition: the memorial would pay special homage to the South Vietnamese army and allies — tens of thousands of whom settled in O.C. as refugees after communist forces took over South Vietnam 50 years ago.
Former Supervisor Andrew Do awarded $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the memorial in 2023 to a nonprofit where his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was an officer. Now, Andrew Do is in prison on a federal bribery charge; the head of the nonprofit is a fugitive; and the memorial stands unfinished, surrounded by caked dirt and dry grass. The county is suing for damages, alleging that most of the money allocated for the memorial was diverted for personal gain.
A hairline crack runs down the surface of one of the black granite-looking slabs that make up the memorial (neither the county nor the monument maker has confirmed the type of material used). The eternal flame sculpture at the center of the memorial is covered in bird poop. The names of soldiers were never etched onto its surface…