Vietnam Virtual Wall

The Virtual Vietnam Wall
Visiting the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D. C. with its 58,256 names carved into black granite is a powerful and emotional experience. The sheer size of the Wall is a sobering reminder of how many young people paid the ultimate sacrifice during this war.

Every time I have been to the Wall, I realize it is not just the Wall by itself but seeing the people who interact with the Wall that makes the visit so poignant. Seeing people placing flowers against the Wall under their loved one's name, or seeing people rubbing a carved name from the Wall onto paper to take home, or seeing people standing in silence as they touch a name on the Wall reminds me of the suffering of the loved ones left behind.

I didn't think it would be possible for the Virtual Wall to have the same emotional impact as as visit to the Granite Wall in D.C. But I was wrong.

The Virtual Vietnam Wall at Footnote.com turns the 58,256 names engraved onto the Wall into real people with real stories and loved ones they left behind. Just like at the Granite Wall, it is the interaction with people that makes the Virtual Wall poignant. Short stories of their lives written by those who loved them, photographs of forever-young faces, and loving tributes make the visit to the Virtual Wall very poignant. Many of the tributes hold a lot of emotion in a very few words: "The dad I never knew", or "He saved my life", or "I still miss you, brother".

Peter Krogh, a National Geographic photographer, took more than 1,500 photographs of the Wall and stitched them together to create one digital replica of the memorial. Footnote made each name link to the person's personnel records and casualty reports supplied by the National Archives. To view the whole Wall, slide from one side to the other to see the sheer magnitude of the 140 panels that make the Vietnam Wall.

Searching is easy. Choose any of of 24 categories - you don't need to supply a name. Search for a soldier, or for all soldiers who died in one town, or for those who died in a certain year, or any combination of the 24 filters.

Some of the Tributes
Lewis Albanese
Thomas Joseph Blanchard
Gerald Alan Cahela
Thomas Carlisle
Harry Cramer
Steven Dean Gundolf
Norman Walter Heck Jr
George Henry Jourdenais
Roger Edward Jozwiak
Darwin Lee Judge
Fredrick Ellis Larsen
Chester Lee
William Thomas Perkins Jr
Leroy James Westra
David Clark Williams
Delvin Wilson

National Archives and Footnote.com Announce 'The Wall'

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.