Vietnam Veterans Memorial Needs Photos
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the founding organization behind the memorial wall that displays the names of Americans killed while serving in Vietnam, is seeking photos of each of the soldiers listed in the memorial.
The photos are part of the VVMF’s Wall of Faces project, which wants to put a story and a face with each of the names on the wall. The photos are displayed online at http://vvmf.org/wall-of-faces/, where each service member listed on the wall has a personal page on which loved ones and friends can leave remembrances. Photos are also displayed as part of a Hometown Heroes display at VVMF’s mobile exhibit, The Wall That Heals.
Of more than 58,000 total, fewer than 2,000 photos are still needed, including pictures of 157 Georgians. There are 1,585 Georgians listed on the memorial wall, meaning photos of about 10 percent of those killed from the state in the war still need to be found.
There are five soldiers from Jeff Davis County whose names are listed on the memorial wall in Washington, D.C. The Wall of Faces project has already located photos for:
Army SSGT Jesse H. Hughes, DOB June 2, 1939; died Jan. 15, 1966.
Army SGT Jimmy H. Mercer, DOB May 20, 1949; died July 26, 1970.
The three Jeff Davis County men for whom the project does not have photos are:
Army PFC George E. Hatten, DOB April 7, 1946; died May 6, 1967.
Army SFC Lonnie V. Merchant, DOB Nov. 9, 1931; died Sept. 9. 1969.
Army SSGT Robert W. Toler Jr., DOB March 2, 1943; died Dec. 5, 1970.
Surviving family members or friends can provide photos to the Faces Never Forgotten project following these directions:
Go to www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces
Click Advanced Search, to the right of the Search box
Input a city, county or state name based on the desired search
Scroll down to the last box and check “Does Not Have a Default Photo”
Hit Submit
The search will yield the most current results for the names of service members for whom the project does not have a photo.
Click on the person you have a photo of and it will give further information plus a SUBMIT PHOTOS button to use to upload a photo.
Or, the photos can be emailed to the Ledger at news@jdledger.com, or brought to the Ledger, and we will be happy to submit the photos for you.
