Vietnam Veterans Memorial opens online

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 27, 2008 6:37:27 EDT

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, one of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital since its opening in 1982, has gone virtual.

The memorial is now posted on the Internet with a searchable database of National Archives files that provides more than just the names of the 58,000 veterans whose names are etched in black marble on “the Wall,” located near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall.

The “virtual wall,” with features that include allowing visitors to post photographs and comments, was produced by a for-profit company, Footnote.com, under an agreement with the National Archives, which keeps the military’s historical records and photographs and makes them available to researchers and other visitors at an archives facility in College Park, Md.

Justin Schroepfer, Footnote.com’s marketing director, said access to the virtual Vietnam Veterans Memorial and to linked historical records and photographs is free, but people will have to pay to use some features on the Web site.

Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, said the Vietnam Memorial is one of the most visited sites not only in Washington but in the nation, and interest increases each year among people seeking to look at historical files of the war held by the National Archives. Putting the Vietnam memorial on the Internet, and providing ways to search by name, age, hometown, state, service, unit and other factors, makes the records available to even more people, Weinstein said.

James Hastings, the Archives’ director of access programs, said he is not troubled about having a for-profit company use government-owned records because the information is available for free to archives offices, which are scattered throughout the U.S.

Putting the information online “expands access by incalculable magnitude,” he said. For example, the Web site will soon include Vietnam War photographs in the Archives’ possession that include captions identifying who is in the photo, making it easier to locate a photo of a particular person that might have been almost impossible for a family to find on its own.

Schroepfer said the interactive feature allowing photographs and comments to be posted by visitors will be a big draw to the Web site. Comments will not be reviewed before they are posted, he said, but the Web site requires registration to post a comment, and other visitors can “flag” comments they think are inappropriate. In that sense, he said, the site “polices itself.”

Registering also gives visitors the opportunity to exchange comments, such as allowing families to contact someone who served with one of the service members whose name is on the Wall.
Source

Vietnam War Memorial gets Christmas tree, hand-made decorations

By Rick Vasquez, Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes online edition, Thursday, December 20, 2007

View the photo gallery


Organizers for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund couldn’t ask for a more perfect winter morning for their annual Christmas Tree at the Wall ceremony.

The sun was shining bright, the skies were blue and the cold breeze was bearable on Thursday for the VVMF’s annual ceremony on the East Knoll of the National Mall.

A small crowd attended the ceremony to witness the decoration of the tree with greeting cards sent to VVMF from Americans of all ages. The tree was also decorated with handmade cards and ornaments made by school children and teenagers from as far as El Cajon Valley High School in El Cajon, Ca., and as close as White Oaks Elementary in Burke, Va. The ornaments and cards are dedicated to Veterans and active-duty military personnel. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of The Wall.

“It is definitely a nice day but it wouldn’t have made a difference whether it rained or snowed because this event is held regardless of the weather,” said Lisa Gough, VVMF Director of Communications. “And this year we received more than 6,000 messages.”

Brief remarks were made by Navy Capt. Eugene Smallwood Jr. who shared a touching story about his father, Lt. Col. Eugene Fenton Smallwood, who was killed in the Vietnam War and is remembered on memorial’s wall. Smallwood remembers getting up early to catch his father in the act of putting him and his siblings’ toys together on Christmas morning.

“He always had a great explanation,” he said, “that Santa Claus was in such a hurry because of all the houses that he had to get to that he had come up, woke my dad up and had asked him to help put the toys together. And when we would glance over at the table, we would see that half of the glass of milk and most of the cookies were gone, we knew that Santa had been there and we had no reason not to believe my dad.”

Smallwood’s father was career Army Officer who served in WWII and the Korean War. Smallwood last he saw his father from the window of the Greyhound bus as it drove away, taking him to a summer scout camp in New Mexico.

“He was very proud of me because I had just achieved a rather distinguished honor as being one of the youngest Eagle Scouts in Northern Virginia,” he said. “I waved to my father on the way out. What I did not realize at the time was that it was the last time I would ever see him.”

With the ambition of moving up in rank, Smallwood’s father, 42, volunteered to accept an assignment with the military advisory team in Vietnam. He was killed two months after arriving in Vietnam.

“I can still vividly remember those two Army officers standing in our front door,” Smallwood said. “I can also remember my mom huddling up all the children, taking us down to the basement and telling us, ‘your daddy is not coming home.’ ”

VVMF founder and president Jan Scruggs reminded the crowd to take time this holiday season to remember friends whose name are on the memorial’s walls and those serving currently in the middle east.

“They are in great deal of danger,” he said, “and they are serving to keep us free and we just appreciate their efforts on our behalf.”
Source

"50,000 Names" (George Jones)

I know, I know...another video, but this one is beautiful and definitely worth watching. Thanks Rhonda for pointing it out!

WHO?? WHY???

Police Say Vietnam Memorial Vandalized
Associated Press September 18, 2007

An oily substance found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial this month.

WASHINGTON (AP) - An oily substance found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial this month was the result of vandalism, U.S. Park Police determined.
Sgt. Robert Lachance, a Park Police spokesman, said Monday that a detective made the conclusion, but he declined to provide further details because of the investigation is ongoing.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the structure, has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
The oily substance on the black granite wall — which bears the names of more than 58,000 men and women killed or missing in the Vietnam War. It was first reported Sept. 7. National Park Service officials said they did not know what the substance was, and at first said it was unclear whether it was the result of vandalism or some kind of accident.

On Monday, dark blotches remained along a stone curb at the base of the wall for much of its length. At least 14 of its 140 inscribed panels appeared to be stained.
Park Service spokesman Bill Line said maintenance and preservation crews were working to remove the stains and marks but were proceeding cautiously to avoid further damage. He said officials are confident they can remove all the stains, but it could take a week or more.

"It's deplorable that someone would vandalize what's really a national shrine," said Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Memorial Fund. "It's an outrage. It's sad."

It's such a shame that anyone would even think to stoop that low. I almost feel sorry for them...sorry that they don't understand the patriotism and valor behind this memorial.