The Three Soldiers statue, designed by Frederick Hart, was added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in a grove of trees near the west entrance to The Wall on Veterans Day, November 11, 1984. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, set in the 42-acre Constitution Gardens, is a national war memorial honoring the members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War and who died in service or are still unaccounted for, consisting of three separate parts: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, the Three Soldiers statue, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial. The idea for the monument originated with Jan Scruggs, a Vietnam veteran, who organized the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc., a nonprofit organization formed April 27, 1979, and Congress authorized the site on July 1, 1980. Maintained by the U.S. National Park Service, the memorial receives around 3 million visitors each year. The Memorial Wall, designed by 21-year-old undergraduate student, Maya Ying Lin, the winner of a 1,421-entry 1981 public design competition, was dedicated on November 13, 1982. It consists of two black granite walls, 246 feet-9 inches long, sunk into the ground at a 125-degree angle, meeting at an angle of 125° 12' where they stand 10.1 feet tall and tapering off to a height of eight inches at their extremities. The 58,159 etched names etched represent the serviceman who were either KIA (Killed In Action) or remained classified MIA (Missing in Action) when the walls were constructed. There is a pathway along the base of the Wall, where visitors may walk, make a pencil rubbing of a particular name, or leave sentimental items. Negative reactions to Lin's initial design were so strong that several Congressmen protested, and Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt refused to issue a building permit. As a compromise to those who wanted a more traditional approach, Frederick Hart, who placed third in the original design competition, was commissioned to augment the memorial with Three Soldiers, also known as The Three Servicemen. The three slightly larger than life bronze figures, of purposely identifiable ethnicities but unidentifiable service branch, stand approximately 8-feet tall. The lead soldier was modeled after a 21-year-old Marine who was stationed in the Washington, D.C. area in 1983. The soldier carrying the machine gun on his shoulder was modeled after a Cuban-American, and the African-American is a composite of several young men who the sculptor used as models. Lin protested at the proposed adulteration of her design, which resulting in its disconnected setting, even though the statue and wall appear to interact with each other--the soldiers look off in tribute to the distant names of their fallen comrades. Further lobbying led to the Vietnam Women's Memorial, which was dedicated on Veteran's Day, 1993, just a short distance south of the wall. Glenna Goodacre's sculptural group commemorates the women of the United States who served in the Vietnam War, most of whom were nurses. In 2007, the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial was ranked #10 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list. National Register #01000285 (2001)