Their pictures are being found in high school year books, newspaper obituaries or even buried in the bottom of a dresser drawer. They were the friends, sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and wives of those who survived the Vietnam War.
Of the 58,272 names inscribed on the black granite walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., over some 30,000 have a picture to go with their name.
Thousands of pictures... still to find.
Thirty-one sets of brothers are on the Wall. Consequently, 31 sets of parents lost two of their sons. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund statistics
The task for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is to locate a picture for every name on the Wall. A task becoming increasingly difficult since most of the surviving parents are now deceased.
The photos will be displayed in the VVMF Education Center, which is to break ground on Veterans Day and be completed by 2014.
There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall. VVMF
Volunteers across the nation are enlisted in the search for photos to preserve this story in our nation's history. For instance, in North Carolina, a 26-year Army veteran and former state Director of Veterans Affairs is committing hours of research to this project.
North Carolina Answers Call For Photos
Charlie Smith has traveled across all 15 Veterans Affairs districts in the state through his decades of service to our nation. He is Chief Military Advisor to the nonprofit Operation North State, which sends hundreds of Christmas gift boxes to deployed NC soldiers. The organization adopted the VVMF photo call, and Smith is leading this effort.
There were 997 soldiers killed on their first day in Vietnam. There were 1,448 killed on their last day in Vietnam. VVMF
North Carolina has 1,610 names on the Wall. Smith thinks there could be more. "I have a few that grew up in North Carolina but entered the military from another state."
Thus far, 1,250 pictures have been collected for North Carolina says VVMF Director of Communications Lee Allen. "You're 77.6% done."
Smith has sent out a memo to the county veterans service offices across the state. "I did get some photographs, but not nearly as many as I wanted to." Time is an adversary to the completion of this project. "Being over 40 years ago and about 70% on the Wall were unmarried - that creates a problem in that they had no spouse, and the majority of their parents are deceased," says Smith.
Twelve soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. Five soldiers were 16 years old, and one soldier, PFC Dan Bullock, was 15 years old. VVMF
Build The Education Center
A fund drive is under way to collect the remaining $40 million for the Education Center construction. It will be built underground on the national mall near The Wall. Lee says, "The entrance will be above ground, and the rooftop will be grass."
The center will feature a huge digital wall, displaying the pictures and names of those inscribed on the memorial. Exhibits will feature history from Bunker Hill to Baghdad. It will honor all those making the ultimate sacrifice; Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties will be displayed on their birthdays. The center will, also, house the memorabilia left at the Wall, in honor of loved ones.
Eight women are on the Wall... killed in action while nursing the wounded. VVMF
Call To Action. Donate today by visiting http://www.buildthecenter.org. Donate on the phone by calling 1-866-990-9255.
About Operation North State
The nonprofit organization offers seven unique services currently not being offered by other military support service programs in North Carolina. In 2012, ONS will offer its Third Annual Christmas Gift Box Project. Additionally, there are three programs for deployed troops, one for veterans-in-need and two awareness programs. Go here for more information.
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