Call For Photos: Putting Faces To Names On The Wall

There were 612 soldiers from Connecticut killed in action in the Vietnam War. Their names are among the more than 58,000 listed on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Central Connecticut State University and the Connecticut Department of Veterans’ Affairs are teaming up to put faces with those names. On Friday July 29, the two issued a “Call for Photos” project in conjunction with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The memorial fund began the “Call for Photos” campaign in 2009 with the goal of attaching faces to the more than 58,000 names memorialized on The Vietnam Memorial – often referred to as the Wall.

The photos will become part of a Virtual Wall to be displayed in The Education Center to be built near the Memorial Wall, according to a press release issued Friday. Working with teachers and volunteers, the CCSU Veterans History Project and the Veteran’s Affairs department have organized the statewide effort to collect pictures and remembrances of the 612 Connecticut service members killed during the war.

At Connecticut’s kickoff event July 29 held in CCSU’s Founders Hall, President Jack Miller was joined by Commissioner Linda Schwartz, CT Department of Veterans’ Affairs; Geoffrey Wiles, director of Education Programs at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Eileen Hurst, director of the CCSU Veterans History Projects, Michele Mullaly, principal of Coventry High School, and Paul Vaccaro, combat veteran.

According to the press release, Miller reminisced about his high school classmates who never made it back from the war. “Those who did return from Vietnam, many of them, were not well received. But they have worked since then, involved in many projects such as this Call for Photos, to make sure other veterans, those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, do not experience what they did. I am proud CCSU has a hand in making sure that those who died during the Vietnam War will be respectfully honored and remembered.” 

Only 187 Conn. faces

Of the 612 Connecticut service members killed in Vietnam, only 187 photos have been collected so far. U.S. Army PFC Joseph Nicholas Davi, of Gales Ferry, is on the list of war dead, but so far there is no photo of him. 

Wiles, who traveled from Washington to Connecticut to help kick off the initiative, pointed out that just two states have collected 100 percent of their photos – New Mexico and North Carolina. Nationwide, just 35 percent have been collected.

According to Wiles, more than 4 million people visit the Vietnam Memorial each year. “Forty percent of them are younger than the Wall. There is a disconnect between them and those who died in the Vietnam War.” In building The Education Center and Virtual Wall, Wiles stated that “future visitors will learn about the war’s history and impact on every U.S. community, while the legacy of those who lost their lives will be preserved.”

Schwartz served as a nurse in the U.S. Air Force during Vietnam. She described for reporters her first visit to the site of the Vietnam Memorial.

“As I read down the rows and rows of names I thought to myself ‘I knew you, I just can’t remember your faces.’ This Virtual Wall will be our lasting memorial to those who served,” she said in the release. “This is another call to duty for us. Help us put faces to our 612 men and women who sacrificed their hopes, dreams and futures for their country.” 

How schools can participate

Mullaly, of Coventry High School, talked about the efforts of teacher Kristen Duke whose Modern Military History class became the Call for Photos pilot school last spring. Her students learned firsthand about some of Connecticut’s fallen heroes by selecting several names from the Wall and then researching who the servicemen were. The collected photos have been submitted to the Memorial project.

Hurst, who worked closely with Duke’s class, said lesson plans are available to teachers who would like to take part in the Call for Photos; she emphasized that the plans can be adapted to fit the needs of individual classrooms. Schools or teachers wishing to collaborate can call Eileen Hurst at the Veterans History Project at CCSU at (860) 832-2976.

How citizens/organizations can participate:

1. To upload a photo directly to the “Virtual Wall”:

Scan a photo of the veteran into your computer at the highest quality setting possible.

Go to www.vvmf.org and click on the “Virtual Wall” tab. Search for the service member’s name. Then click on their “profile.”  Click on “Post a remembrance.” 

After providing all of the requested information, select “Attach an Image from my computer.”  Attach the scanned image from your computer.

You may request email notification when the image is posted to the “Virtual Wall.”

2. To submit a photo by mail:

Make a copy of your photo. Do not send original photos as the VVMF cannot return them. Photos should be reproduced in an 8 x 10 format at the highest quality possible with a glossy finish.

Complete the photo submission form (available at VVMF website) and include with the photo.

Mail to: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund

       Attn: Call for Photos

       2600 Virginia Ave., NW

       Suite 104

       Washington, D.C. 20037

3. If you need any assistance with scanning or sending a photo, please contact:

      The Veterans History Project                      

   Central Connecticut State University

   DiLoreto Room 207

   1615 Stanley Street

   New Britain, CT 06050-4010

    (860) 832-2976

www.ccsu.edu/vhp