California

Woman's Name Added to California Vietnam Memorial for First Time

Adrienne Lee Schamp was born in Los Angeles. She served in the Army from July 1968 until April 1972.

Southern California troops were among 20 names added to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Sacramento Sunday, including the first woman to have her name etched on the monument.

Adrienne Lee Schamp was born in Los Angeles. She served in the Army from July 1968 until April 1972.

Schamp was exposed to Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide used to defoliate forests and crops that provided cover for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops.

Schamp died in Los Angeles at 51 in 2001, from a heart ailment attributed to Agent Orange.

In 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 287, which allowed the names of those who died later from Vietnam War-related diseases or injuries to be added to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Capitol Park, making Schamp eligible.

She is the only woman among the 5,696 whose names are engraved on California's Memorial, according to CalVet, an umbrella agency of 3,200 employees providing service to veterans. Eight women -- all nurses -- were killed in action in Vietnam, none from California.

Among the other names added Sunday were:

-- John Robinson Davis III, born on January 21, 1950, in Glendale;

-- Sal Arturo Silva, born August 6, 1948, in Burbank;

-- Michael Rene Salleng, graduated from Reseda High School.

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