Volunteers wash the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

About 50 volunteers turned out at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on D.C.'s National Mall Saturday morning to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice by cleaning up the memorial that pays tribute to them. 

The event was organized by New Day USA, a mortgage lender for veterans and active duty military. 

Jan Scruggs, the man who spearheaded the effort to build the wall back in 1982, spoke to volunteers about the history of the wall and the significance of its placement on the National Mall. It was Scruggs' first visit to the wall since a recent illness, which almost took his life. 

Scruggs told FOX 5's Kristyn Leon live on FOX 5 Morning that he almost died in December, and doctors were about to end life support when he "sprung back to life!"

Before the volunteers began washing and shining the wall that bears the 58,000 names of the servicemen and women who gave their lives for their country, they listened as Scruggs shared his powerful message of survival and how the wall came to be-- and he got choked up.

"It's one of these things you don't forget-- but I came back," he said.