Steve Mason, a former Army captain and decorated Vietnam combat veteran, was named the National Poet Laureate by the Vietnam Veterans of America. Mason's poem "The Wall Within” was read at the 1984 dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC and has the distinction of being the only American work of poetry on display at the war memorial in Hanoi. His books include Johnny’s Song: Poetry of a Vietnam Veteran, Warrior for Peace, and The Human Being: A Warrior’s Journey toward Peace and Mutual Healing. Diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of wartime exposure to Agent Orange, he died in 2005.