Jan Craig Scruggs is often recognized as “the founder of the wall.” He was a United States Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War and in 1980 founded the Congressionally authorized Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Scruggs was the President of the foundation until 2015, when he retired, but he remains involved in charitable work.

I recently met with Mr. Scruggs at his home in Annapolis. Given his anti-war sentiments, he was intrigued by the idea of a Peace Corps Park that honors the American ideals and values of compassion, generosity, and perseverance embodied in and symbolized by the Peace Corps service. Mr. Scruggs has kindly offered his support to our campaign for Peace Corps Park and, to create awareness among his listening audience, we recorded this introductory podcast interview.

Bob Taft, Governor of Ohio from 1999-2007, is a Distinguished Research Associate at the University of Dayton, where he teaches Legislative Politics and Education Policy and helps oversee the Statehouse Civic Scholars summer internship program.

Taft previously served in the Ohio House of Representatives (1977–1981), then as Hamilton County commissioner (1981–1990), and as Ohio Secretary of State (1991–1999). He graduated with a B.A. in government from Yale in 1963. From 1963 to 1965, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching in Tanzania. He then attended the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, receiving an M.A. in government in 1967. In 1976, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

The Taft family has been involved in Republican politics for over a century. Bob Taft's great-great-grandfather Alphonso Taft was Secretary of War, Attorney General, and an ambassador. His great-grandfather, William Howard Taft, was President and Chief Justice of the United States. His grandfather, Robert Alphonso Taft, and father, Robert Taft, Jr. were both U.S. Senators.

Jim Walsh is a former government affairs counselor for K&L Gates in Washington, D.C. He retired from the United States House of Representatives in 2009 after serving for 20 years. While in Congress, Walsh was a member of the House Committee on Appropriations for 16 years, also chairing several of its subcommittees. 

As chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, Walsh had spending oversight of more than $100 billion during the 109th Congress. In his capacities as chair and member of committees, subcommittees, and caucuses in Congress, Walsh secured hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for veterans' affairs, healthcare, technology, the environment, higher educational institutions, and many other areas. Perhaps his most significant public contribution was the federally directed and funded restoration of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse.

He was active in the peace process in Northern Ireland, for which the Walsh Visa was created and named in his honor. During the 1970s and 1980s, Walsh was active on the Syracuse City Council, serving as its president for three years. In 1999, he issued a challenge with several goals that is known as The Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative for revitalization of the city.

He serves on several boards, including Finger Lakes Land Trust and St. Bonaventure University. Walsh graduated from St. Bonaventure University with a bachelor's degree in history and served in the Peace Corps in Nepal from 1970 to 1972 as an agricultural extension agent.

John Hoffman is a distinguished business leader and philanthropist who has dedicated his life to serving his community and promoting the arts. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1963 with a degree in Latin American Studies. 

He began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960s, where he worked in rural development and education in Colombia. He returned to the United States with a passion for social justice and a vision for positive change.

After three years in the U.S. Army, John moved back to Kansas City and joined the investment firm of Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley. Retiring in 2002 to devote full time to rebuilding Kansas City’s urban core, he founded several successful businesses, including Urban Coeur Properties, and organizations that have contributed to the economic vitality of the city.

John and his wife Sharon have also had a lifelong commitment to Kansas City’s cultural life. They are generous patrons of the arts, supporting local artists and institutions such as the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kansas City Symphony, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and founding Arts Alive and the Kansas City Camerata. John’s board service over the years includes Historic Kansas City Foundation (President 1980-1983), founding member Kansas City Architectural Foundation (1985-2010), the American Jazz Museum, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Harmony. He has received numerous awards and honors for his achievements, service, and contributions to the civic and cultural life of Kansas City.