Jan Craig Scruggs (born 1950) is a United States Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, and later founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Scruggs was the President of the foundation until 2015, when he retired. Early life and military career Scruggs was born in Bowie, Maryland, in 1950 to James and Louise Scruggs. He was the youngest of their four children. His father drove a taxicab and delivered milk door-to-door. His mother, who had dropped out of school in the eighth grade, worked as a waitress. His parents were from Alabama, where his older siblings were born, and moved to Maryland after World War II. Scruggs' parents divorced when he was 14 years old. His mother moved away, and his father remarried when Scruggs was in his senior year in high school. The summer after he graduated from Bowie High School, he turned 19 years old. With his parents unable to afford college and feeling awkward at home around his newly married father and step-mother, he decided to leave home. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1968, having given little thought to the fact that the Vietnam War was raging. Trained as a mortarman, Scruggs was assigned to Company D, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 199th Light Infantry Brigade. His unit was sent to Vietnam in April 1969 for a one-year tour of duty. In May 1969, his unit took up duty in the Xuân Lộc District northeast of Saigon. On May 27, 1969, his unit engaged the Viet Cong in a forested area. The next day, while leaving the jungle at about 9:30 AM, a rocket-propelled grenade attack left Scruggs wounded in his back, right arm, and both legs. Scruggs spent three months in the hospital, then returned to combat duty. Scruggs received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received in combat. In November 1969, Scruggs was involved in another firefight with the Viet Cong. During the battle, he retrieved a weapon from the battlefield while under fire, for which he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, with 'Valor' device. Scruggs signed up for a second one-year tour of duty in Vietnam. His unit was still serving in the Xuân Lộc District. On January 21, 1970, 12 of his comrades were killed when three mortar rounds accidentally exploded while being unloaded from