Fewer than 300 photos needed to complete The Wall of Faces

01-14-2020

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is pleased to announce a major milestone in the effort to find a photo for every service member on The Wall. Of the 58,276 names inscribed on The Wall, fewer than 300 photos are now needed to complete the effort.

We are also proud to announce that Massachusetts and Guam have found every photo for their Vietnam fallen. There are 1,336 service members from Massachusetts and 68 service members from Guam listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Now every one of them has a photo displayed on the Wall of Faces.

U.S. Army Cpl. Pervis B. Valentine Jr.

VVMF’s Wall of Faces effort aims to connect a face and a story to each of the 58,276 service members with 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.

U.S. Army Pfc. Herman Borja De Leon

One of the final photos submitted for Massachusetts was of U.S. Army Cpl. Pervis B. Valentine Jr. from Roxbury. He made the ultimate sacrifice on April 19, 1968 when his jeep hit an enemy landmine in Thua Thien Province of Vietnam. He was 24 years old. Valentine is remembered on Panel 51E, Line 3 of The Wall.

The final photo submitted for Guam was of U.S. Army Pfc. Herman Borja De Leon from Agana. He made the ultimate sacrifice on May 1, 1968 while on an ambush patrol when he was mistaken for a hostile force in the Binh Duong Province of Vietnam. He was 24 years old. De Leon is remembered on Panel 53E, Line 30 of The Wall.

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

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

VVMF thanks the hundreds of volunteers around the country who have been instrumental in locating these photos. Because of their tenacious effort, more than 58,000 service members who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam now have photos posted to the Wall of Faces.

VVMF is enlisting in the public’s help to find additional high-quality photos. More than half of the existing photos on the Wall of Faces are poor quality. With the prevalence of online photo sources (newspapers, yearbooks, and other magazines), it’s easier to supplement photos already submitted with those of higher quality. We are also in need of volunteers who have expertise in retouching and editing photos that have already been submitted to the Wall of Faces.

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 are currently 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/