Texas Capitol to Get Vietnam War Memorial Statue

The first official memorial to honor Texans who fought in the Vietnam War is being readied for a Veterans Day dedication next year on the Texas Capitol grounds in Austin.

It's to be a $1.5 million bronze statue funded by a $500,000 state grant and private donations. Its creator, New Mexico Western sculptor Robert "Duke" Sundt, is best-known in Texas for the oversized bronze longhorn outside the Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas campus.

The Houston Chronicle reports it portrays five U.S. soldiers huddled in the ruins of an ancient temple, weapons at the ready and eyes peering into the distance.

The memorial will join previous Capitol memorials to veterans of the Texas Revolution, Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War.