ABOUT THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WALL

“We all carry an empty place in our hearts once filled by your smile.”
“You are the person that made my heart sing.”
“You inspired me from above to join the Navy and will forever be my role model.”
“Tell the other guys I said I still remember them.”

These are just a few of the many tributes that are left every day for the men and women whose names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Even now, decades after they lost loved ones in the Vietnam War, individuals from around the country continue to remember and honor those they lost in Vietnam. Some post remembrances on VVMF’s Virtual Wall on the Internet; other leaves notes, flowers, photos and every imaginable type of artifact at The Wall itself. Through these actions, America has proven that we have not forgotten those we lost in Vietnam.

In 1982, Jan Scruggs and a group of Vietnam veterans built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., a lasting tribute to all who served and sacrificed in one of the country’s longest and most divisive wars.  In the years since it was dedicated, The Wall, as it is called, has become universally revered as a place of healing and reconciliation.

Seeing the many items left each day at The Wall—a collection that numbers over 150,000—Scruggs realized that VVMF’s work was not finished. He brought a new idea before Congress: to build an Education Center near The Wall that would show the faces of the more than 58,000 whose names are inscribed in the black granite, tell their stories and display some of the items that have been left in tribute to them. In 2003, Congress authorized VVMF to build such a center “at or near” the Memorial. A site was chose near the Vietnam and Lincoln Memorials on the National Mall, and work began to create this extraordinary facility.

Education Center exhibits will center on the values embodied by America’s service members—loyalty, duty, respect, service, honor, integrity and courage—and will include:

• A larger-than-life Wall of Faces that will show images of the people on The Wall on their birthdays.
• The Collections Wall, which will exhibit some of the more than 150,000 items that have been left at
  The Wall in tribute over the years.
• Timelines that illustrate the history of Vietnam War and The Wall.
• Special exhibits that will highlight the service and achievements of particular groups and
  individuals.
• The “Legacy of Service” exhibit showing images of the people who served in all of our nation’s wars.

Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) is the honorary chair of the campaign to build the Education Center at The Wall. Actor Tom Selleck is the national spokesman.  The capital campaign, which received its lead gift from Time Warner, is reaching out to corporations, organizations, unions and individuals to raise the approximately $85 million necessary to build the Center. Only when the money is raised can VVMF break ground. Estimates are that the Center could be built within two years of groundbreaking. 

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    The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund takes our stewardship of your donations seriously. The programs we fund are designed to help us achieve our mission of preserving the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, promoting healing and educating about the impact of the Vietnam War.