Arlington Heights in Portland in Multnomah County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)

1972 – 1976

— Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial —

Photographed by Ian Lefkowitz, June 26, 2026

1. 1972 – 1976 Marker

Inscription.
When North Vietnam launched a massive attack threatening the South Vietnamese capital, the U.S. retaliated with more bombing and by mining North Vietnamese harbors. With this severe blow to North Vietnam, the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China urged North Vietnam to negotiate. But these negotiations, like many before, broke down, provoking the U.S. to the Christmas bombing of 1972, the most intensive of the war. Negotiations resumed. The North Vietnamese agreed to return prisoners of war and to acknowledge the sovereignty of South Vietnam; the U.S. agreed to a withdrawal of troops. In January 1973, a cease fire was signed. War between North Vietnam and South Vietnam nonetheless continued until, in 1975, North Vietnam occupied South Vietnam. The war at last was over, and in its terrible havoc a million and a half human beings, Vietnamese and Americans alike, had perished.

A Russian trawler avoided superpower confrontation at the mouth of the Columbia. Accused of damaging Astoria fishermen’s gear and pursued by the U.S. Coast Guard, it slipped out into the open sea under cover of a heavy fog. In Central Oregon,

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too, a controversy ended when, after 117 years, thousands of acres of valuable timberland were returned to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Controversy of another kind showed signs of solution: for the first time a Black person served in the state legislature, winning a position on the Portland City Council. At Rockaway, however, storms both political and elemental struck. Recalls and resignations disrupted local government, while a high wind tore off the roof of the town swimming pool.

In most other places peace prevailed. At The Dalles, the Elks Lodge and the Salvation Army combined to fund a Meals-On-Wheels program to serve the elderly and shut-ins. Cottage Grove assigned a chaplain to its police force. Compassionate citizens of Ontario created a “Tap” telephone service for people in trouble. And the Shakespeare Festival at Ashland joined with another festival of much importance—the town’s centenary.

But the war continued to touch the state with sorrow. A released prisoner of war coming back to Hermiston found his wife gone, his father dead, and Myrtle Point and Sweet Home received far more than their tragic

Photographed by Ian Lefkowitz, June 26, 2026

2. 1972 – 1976 Marker

The last of the Vietnam-era memorials leads towards the tall firs of Hoyt Arboretum.

share of telegrams from the Department of Defense. In these years also there were two events which symbolize, as well as anything, Oregon’s diversity. Down on the Columbia near Rainier, the state’s first atomic power plant was built. In the high country outside of Vale, Public Lands officials counted 867 wild horses.

Such, then, were some of the happenings in Oregon during these years of war, events both grave and blithe, monumental and notable, spectacular and ordinary, the multitudinous life of a place which these men and women were not to see again.

Daniel D. Cooper • Robert E. Pryor • Ronald S. Anderson • Robert A. Brett Jr. • Clyde C. Love • Edward H. Johnson • Benjamin L. Tebault • James E. Hudelson • George Earnest Gilliland • Donald F. Lindland • Mason I. Burnham • George E. Gillaland • Gerald R. Thompson • Michael P. Viskov

Erected 1987.

Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: War, Vietnam.

Location. 45° 30.751′ N, 122° 43.115′ W. Memorial is in Portland, Oregon, in Multnomah County. It is in Arlington Heights. It can be reached from the intersection of

Photographed by Ian Lefkowitz, June 26, 2026

3. 1972 – 1976 Marker

A close-up of the names inscribed in the memorial.

Southwest Canyon Road and Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial Pathway, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 4000 SW Canyon Rd, Portland OR 97221, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge

and in the Willamette Valley.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast,

in the Pacific Northwest,

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: MIA (within shouting distance of this marker); 1970 – 1971 (within shouting distance of this marker); Garden of Solace (within shouting distance of this marker); 1968 – 1969 (within shouting distance of this marker); 1966 – 1967 (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Oregon Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial (about 300 feet away); 1959 – 1965 (about 300 feet away); Les AuCoin (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all

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markers in Portland.

Credits. This page was last revised on September 7, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 31, 2026, by Ian Lefkowitz of New York, New York. This page has been viewed 11 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 31, 2026, by Ian Lefkowitz of New York, New York. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.