Honoring Our Vietnam Veterans by Education!

The Education Center by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

There is a great need to educate our future generations about the honor and sacrifices made by those who served our country during the Vietnam War. The importance of building the Education Center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial needs to be shared, talked about and explained to local business owners, community members and Veteran's Groups as well as students of all ages. Citizens from all areas must come together as one and continue to raise awareness of the Education Center, it's important roll in US history and the funding that is needed to build it.

More than 25 years ago, Vietnam veteran Jan C. scruggs took $2,800 of his own money and set out to build a national memorial to those who served and sacrificed during the Vietnam War. Thousands of Americans stepped forward to help fund the construction of the Wall.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, built entirely with private funds, was dedicated on the National Mall in 1982. 

Now, Scruggs and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund are partnering with the National Park Service to build The Education Center at The Wall, an underground learning facility that will tell the stories of those who served, allowing visitors to connect a face and a personal story to the more than 58,000 names on The Wall.

The Education Center was authorized by Congress and the President in 2003. Since then, the Center has received site approval and will be built underground on land near The Wall, so it will not detract from the historic vistas of the National Mall and the design will keep with that of The Wall.

The Education Center was conceived as a way to help put faces to the thousands of names on The Wall, to educate future generations about these honorable men and women who gave everything for their country and to give a glimpse into their lives. Exhibits will be tied to the seven values embodied by all American service members: Loyalty -- Duty -- Respect --Service -- Honor -- Integrity -- and Courage.

The Center will include The Wall of faces -- showing large scale photos of the fallen on their birthdays. A National Call for photos was launched in September 2009 to gather more than 58,000 photos needed for this display. The Collections Wall -- exhibiting some of the more than 100,000 items left in tribute at The Wall since 1982. Timelines of the Vietnam War and the creation of The Wall. The Legacy of Service displaying images of service members who served in all of American's wars.Educational Resources to include additional information on the fallen and the Vietnam War that will be made available onsite, offsite and online.

The capital campaign is reaching out to corporations, organizations, unions, and individuals to raise the approximately $85 million necessary to build the center. You can contribute to this cause by clicking HERE for a donation form, or by visiting online at http://www.buildthecenter.org or by calling 866-990-WALL. Please join me in supporting this worthy project!

The Wall Wants Photos
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the organization that supports the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (The Wall), is working on a project to gather photographs of all of the 58,272 men and women whose names are inscribed on the Memorial. So far, VVMF has collected about 23,000 photos. They will be displayed in the Education Center at The Wall, which is under construction, and also will appear on line on VVMF’s Virtual Memorial Wall page.

If you have a photo of someone who perished in Vietnam, you are invited to bring it to the venues to scan. You may also submit the photo online. For info on the latter, go to www.vvmf.org/pafwan

About the VVMF Education Center at The Wall
The Education Center at The Wall is a place on our National Mall where our military heroes' stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Like the Wall, The Center will be funded entirely from private donations. It will be a state-of-the-art visitors and learning center featuring the faces and stories of the 58,272 men and women from across America whose names are etched on the Wall. The Center will honor and tell the stories of those who fell in Vietnam, those who fought and returned, as well as all brave patriots who have served in the military from the Battle of Bunker Hill to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Center will be located nearby both the Lincoln Memorials and the Vietnam Wall. With a planned groundbreaking in November 2012, construction will commence once all funds are raised. Support the Education Center at The Wall by visiting www.buildthecenter.org, calling 866-990-WALL, or by texting "WALL" to 2022.

Goal: $1,000,000~ACHIEVED~$1,212,978 Raised & Matched!