Fewer than 1,000 photos needed to complete The Wall of Faces

05-22-2019

 

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is proud to announce a major milestone ahead of Memorial Day. Through its Wall of Faces effort to collect a photo for every one of the more than 58,000 names inscribed on The Wall, fewer than 1,000 are now needed to complete the effort.

James M Clark

James M. Clark

Luis Cruz

Luis Cruz

VVMF’s Wall of Faces effort aims to connect a face and a story to each of the more than 58,000 names inscribed on The Wall in Washington, D.C. so that future generations will better understand the impact of the Vietnam War on American families. Each name represents a life cut short and a family changed forever by their loss. Putting a face to every name helps further preserve their legacies.

The milestone was reached after the photo of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. James M. Clark of New York, New York, was submitted. He was killed on September 20, 1966 in the Quang Ngai province of Vietnam. He was 21 years old. Subsequently, the photo of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Luis Cruz, also from New York, was submitted a short time after and brought the missing photo total to 999. Cruz made the ultimate sacrifice on August 10, 1968 in the Quang Nam province of Vietnam. He was 23 years old.

VVMF thanks the hundreds of volunteers around the country who have been instrumental in locating these photos. Because of their tenacious effort, more than 57,000 photos of service members who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam have been found and posted to the Wall of Faces.

“Putting a face to each name helps people understand the true cost of war, to drive home the fact that every name on The Wall represents a real person with a life cut short,” said Jim Knotts president and CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF), the nonprofit organization that founded The Wall.  “Each photo represents a family and friends forever changed.  The Wall of Faces also allows family members, friends and comrades to leave remembrances and stay connected to those they lost.”

40 states, two U.S. territories and the District of Columbia have found every photo for their fallen. They include:

  1. Alaska
  2. American Samoa
  3. Arizona
  4. Arkansas
  5. Colorado
  6. Connecticut
  7. Delaware
  8. District of Columbia
  9. Florida
  10. Hawaii
  11. Idaho
  12. Indiana
  13. Iowa
  14. Kansas
  15. Kentucky
  16. Louisiana
  17. Maine
  18. Maryland
  19. Minnesota
  20. Mississippi
  21. Missouri
  22. Montana
  23. Nebraska
  24. Nevada
  25. New Hampshire
  26. New Jersey
  27. New Mexico
  28. North Carolina
  29. North Dakota
  30. Ohio
  31. Oklahoma
  32. Oregon
  33. Rhode Island
  34. South Dakota
  35. Tennessee
  36. Texas
  37. Utah
  38. Vermont
  39. Virgin Islands
  40. Washington
  41. West Virginia
  42. Wisconsin
  43. Wyoming

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1982 with a promise to never forget the service members who served and sacrificed in the Vietnam War. The Wall of Faces effort began in 2009. Submitted photos currently are available on VVMF’s Wall of Faces. To see photos missing by state, visit: https://www.vvmf.org/submit-a-photo/Missing-Photos-by-State/