National Archives and Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com) Hold Press Conference to Announce 'The Wall'
Interactive online Vietnam War Memorial makes war records more widely available .
WHAT: A press conference to unveil a new interactive online Vietnam War Memorial, featuring the largest photo of the Wall on the Web.
WHO: Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, Russell Wilding, CEO, Footnote.com James Hasting, Director of Access Programs, National Archives
WHEN: 10 A.M., Wednesday, March 26, 2008
WHERE: Archivist's Reception Room National Archives 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Press should use Pennsylvania Avenue entrance.
BACKGROUND: Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com) , in partnership with the National Archives, has extracted information from National Archives electronic records of each Vietnam casualty and linked it to each name on the Wall. The casualty records are from the Combat Area Casualties Current File from the records of the Secretary of Defense and from Records with Unit Information on Military Personnel Who Died during the Vietnam War, from records that were donated to the National Archives by Richard Coffelt, Richard Arnold, and David Argabright. In addition to the casualty records for these men and women, Footnote.com will be scanning National Archives photos and casualty reports from the Vietnam War.
Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com) has incorporated social tools into this project, enabling visitors to search the Wall for names of people they knew and pay tribute by adding photos, comments and stories of those who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.
/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- March 20/
I have visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D. C. many times and still find visiting the memorial with its 58,249 names carved into black granite to be a powerful and emotional experience. The sheer size of the Wall certainly brings home the magnitude of how many paid the ultimate sacrifice during this war. Every time I have visited, I have seen people placing flowers against the Wall under their loved one's name; I have seen people rubbing a carved name from the wall onto paper to take home; I have seen people standing in silence touching a name on the wall; I have seen Vietnam vets revisiting their dead comrades; and I have seen people of all ages paying homage to the sacrifice of these men and women.
I hope the electronic Wall at Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com) where we can pay electronic tribute by adding photos, comments and stories of those who lost their lives during the Vietnam War will bring the same powerful and emotional experience to those who cannot visit the Wall in person.
The Vietnam Wall at Footnote.com will be free for all.
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