The Wall of Faces

I know I said we would be visiting California today in my last post, but first, this!

In keeping with a Memorial Day theme, I want to bring this to your attention.

Rhode Island is the most recent state to complete its search for photos of  every name from the state on The Wall, making it number 21.

All of the following is taken directly from the VVMF Wall of Faces page.

"Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s Wall of Faces effort aims to put a face to the more than 58,318 names inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Submitted photos are currently seen on VVMF's Wall of Faces, where family and friends can share memories, remembrances, and photos. Putting a face to every name helps further preserve the legacies of all the service members with names inscribed on The Wall. 

VVMF has dedicated Wall of Faces volunteers around the country who help locate photos of those who served and sacrificed. U.S. Army veteran Bryan Simmons began searching for photos for the Wall of Faces in 2013 and became an integral part of Rhode Island’s success. Simmons is from Attleboro, Massachusetts, which borders Rhode Island. He began writing editorials to help spread the word about the photo collection effort. After he wrote an editorial for the Providence Journal, he was contacted by Joe Cichon, a retired teacher at Bishop Hendricken High School. During his years as a teacher, Cichon taught a class on the Vietnam War where his students were tasked with gathering information, photos and stories about a Rhode Island service member. Cichon agreed to let Simmons borrow their research collection and 73 photos were uploaded to the Wall of Faces.
Simmons continued researching on his own and has since found more than 960 photos from across the country.

“Being a Veteran myself, I can't imagine anyone could make a sacrifice and only be remembered as a silhouette,” he said. “I felt researching the photos was something I could do to show people still remember.”

To date, more than 51,000 photos have been collected for the Wall of Faces and fewer than 7,000 photos are still needed to complete the effort. Rhode Island joins 20 other states in finding every photo for their fallen. The completed states include:

Alaska
Colorado
Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Kansas
Maryland
Minnesota
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming

If you have a picture of a loved one or fellow veteran whose name is on The Wall, please help VVMF honor these individuals by submitting a photo. VVMF encourages the public to submit as many photos of each service member as possible.

Along with the virtual Wall of Faces, photos and stories of the more than 58,000 veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War will also be displayed at the future Education Center at The Wall."

You may reach VVMF's office by telephone at 202-393-0090 or by email at vvmf@vvmf.org.

Fax number is 571-257-8808.
Located at:
1235 South Clark Street, Suite 910
Arlington, VA  22202

Next time, on the 8th, we will return to California, so join me there at 9:00am.

To see Vietnam memorials from any state, click a state name on the left side of this page.