Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s (VVMF) “Call For Photos”
I get a ton of mail from folks who want me to tell you about stuff, I ignore most of them because they just don’t seem relevant. This one seems to be an exception;
s time goes on, we continue to thank our veterans and commemorate our fallen troops for how they served and sacrificed for our country. To focus on those from the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, today known as The Wall, in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 1982. We will always remember the half million troops deployed to Vietnam and The Wall honors the more than 58,000 men and women who unfortunately did not return. And now, even more is being done to honor, thank them and remember them.
In 2003, President George W. Bush signed legislation authorizing Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) to build an underground educational facility near The Wall. The Education Center at The Wall will show pictures and tell stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. It will show some of the more than 150,000 items left at The Wall and celebrate the values exhibited by America’s service members in all wars.
The newest event for The Wall is “Call for Photos,” tied to the Faces Never Forgotten campaign, encouraging friends and families of veterans, as well as every citizen, to ensure that the memories and stories of those listed on The Wall are never forgotten. With the help of Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), local organizations and volunteers in communities nationwide, VVMF hopes to acquire the photographs of vets who are listed on The Wall in Washington, DC. There are still over 26,551 names without faces or even a back story on the Wall this event is hoping to give every soldier the honor of being fully remembered as a person and not just a name.
“To complete the mission and begin construction of the Education Center, we will continue to depend on the dedication and generosity of those individuals, organizations and communities that make it their goal to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and contribute in their honor,” says Jan C. Scruggs, President of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
For info on the Education Center at The Wall or submitting a photo, visit www.vvmf.org or call 866-990-WALL
Category: Support the troops
Just sent in a picture of SGT Frank Lilley from my hometown from the 1966 yearbook.
John Rowan, one of the founders VVAW and current president of VVA. VVA national Hdq located in Silver Springs, MD. IVAW Winter Soldier Investigation II held in Silver Spring, MD.
That’s 58,000++ people who hever had a chance to enjoy their children or grandchildren, or go fishing with them, fly kites in the spring, teach them to ride bikes or horses, play basketball and tag football and softball and soccer, read Winnie the Pooh and The Little Prince to them, stick their silly drawings on the fridge, change their diapers, watch them sleep, listen to the silly things they said, show them how to tie their shoes, help them with their homework, roast marshmallows, take them trick-or-treating at Hallowe’en, watch them in school plays, and watch them grow up and follow in their footsteps.
It’s also 58,000++ x 40 years of the following that never happened:
Birthdays
Thanksgivings
Christmases
Valentine Days
Easter egg hunts
Picnics
Rock concerts
Weddings
Births of children
Births of grandchildren