[3] His parents were from Alabama, where his older siblings were born, and moved to Maryland after World War II.

[3] The next day, while leaving the jungle at about 9:30 AM, a rocket-propelled grenade attack[3] left Scruggs wounded in his back, right arm, and both legs.

During the battle, he retrieved a weapon from the battlefield while under fire,[3] for which he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal, with 'Valor' device.

He quit his job and school, bought a motorcycle,[3] and spent a year roaming the country, drinking heavily.

[2] During this time, he and another friend and veteran spent five months roaming southern California, drinking, goofing off, and visiting Native American reservations.

[9] Beginning in 1977, Scruggs began working as an investigator in the equal opportunity employment office at the United States Department of Labor.

[3] 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.

[2] Toward dawn, the idea of a memorial with the names of American servicemembers who had died in the Vietnam War flashed into his mind.

[8] Scruggs first raised the idea of a memorial at a local meeting of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) shortly thereafter.

[10] He proposed an obelisk 30 feet (10 yd) high, erected without government funds, with the names of the dead inscribed on it.

[11] Chuck Hagel, then deputy administrator of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, became an early backer of the project, helping to steer even more donors the VVMF's way.

Wheeler, a Vietnam War veteran and attorney who led the drive to erect the Southeast Asia Memorial at the United States Military Academy (West Point), agreed to join the VVMF on a volunteer basis and help coordinate legislation, public relations and fundraising drive.

Scruggs gives credit for success of the endeavor to the graduates of West Point who volunteered their services and advice.

[2] He was interviewed in the book Boots on the ground by Elizabeth Partridge, where he talked about his experience in the war and in the making of the wall.

[3] Unwilling to join a law firm and be managed by supervisors 15 years his junior, Scruggs rejoined the VVMF and began raising funds to celebrate the memorial's tenth anniversary.

[3] In part, he was motivated by the neglect of the District of Columbia War Memorial, a structure on the National Mall which commemorates those individuals from the District of Columbia who lost their lives serving in World War I. Scruggs did not want the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to fall into disrepair, and felt that a strong VVMF would help avoid that.

[3] Two years later, while driving home from a meeting in Richmond, Virginia, he passed out at the wheel of his automobile and ran off the road onto the shoulder.

[8] Scruggs was appointed Chairman of the National Appeals Board for Selective Service by President Obama on July 3, 2012.

He also serves on the board of advisors of the Code of Support Foundation, a nonprofit military services organization.

[2] The book was made into a 1988 television film, with Eric Roberts as Scruggs and Glynnis O'Connor as his wife, Becky.