a truck. Scruggs, who was more than away, was not injured in the blast, but the image of the explosion stayed with him. Scruggs left the Army in March 1970 as a corporal, by which time he had also received three Army Commendation Medals, as well as the "V" device for Valor which is attached to the Army Commendation Medal. Vietnam Veterans Memorial work Educational achievements After leaving the Army, Scruggs returned to Maryland, where he obtained a job as a security guard at an apartment building and enrolled briefly at Prince George's Community College. "[V]ery disillusioned and disenchanted" (Scruggs believes he was struggling with a mild form of posttraumatic stress disorder), Scruggs had difficulty adjusting to civilian life again. He quit his job and school, bought a motorcycle, and spent a year roaming the country, drinking heavily. During this time, he and another friend and veteran spent five months roaming southern California, drinking, goofing off, and visiting Native American reservations. Returning to Maryland, Scruggs enrolled at American University in Washington, D.C. He met Becky Fishman at a 7-Eleven store late one night. They married in 1974. Scruggs received his bachelor's degree from American University in 1975. He then enrolled in the graduate program in psychology, researching posttraumatic stress disorder. He received his master's degree in 1977. Beginning in 1977, Scruggs began working as an investigator in the equal opportunity employment office at the United States Department of Labor. He was recognized as an expert on posttraumatic stress disorder, and testified before Congress on the issue. Conceiving and building the Vietnam Veterans Memorial In March 1979, Scruggs and his wife went to see The Deer Hunter, a drama about three friends whose experiences in the Vietnam War leave them badly emotionally scarred. That night, Scruggs began drinking and brooding over the film. About 3:00 AM, he began having flashbacks, particularly about the mortar truck accident that killed 12 of his friends. Toward dawn, the idea of a memorial with the names of American servicemembers who had died in the Vietnam War flashed into his mind. Scruggs told his wife about the idea the next morning. "I was a little worried about his mental health," she later said. "I wondered if he'd gone off the deep end." She also feared that he would pour their life savings into the idea, and leave them penniless. Scruggs first raised the idea of a