THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you Sergeant Morehouse for your devotion, leadership and courage during your tour and each day thereafter.

SGT Michael J Morehouse didn't pass until 14 Aug 2004 per VVMF per Coffelt Database of Vietnam Casualties. He was WIA 01 April 1969

Dear SGT Michael Joseph Morehouse, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you, one of the gentle heroes lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother

SIX NAMES ADDED TO THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL -



ADDITIONS BRING TOTAL NUMBER OF NAMES TO 58267





29 April 2010 - Washington, D.C. —



The names of six American servicemen will be inscribed on the black granite walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial next week, and the status designations will be changed for 11 others whose names are already on The Wall, announced Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF).



A press event at 10:00 a.m. on 4 May will be held to allow the media and general public to witness the addition of one name.



Work will begin on 29 April and proceed through 4 May .



The 4 May press event will showcase the addition of one name, that of Army Lieutenant Colonel William L. Taylor, whose name will be added to Panel 7W, Line 81 of the Memorial.



In a short ceremony before the name addition, JC Cummings, AIA, the architect of record for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will offer some history of the Memorial and the addition of names.



Expert stoneworker James Lee of Colorado-based Engrave Write, who will be adding the names, will give details about the process.



VVMF President Jan Scruggs will offer remarks.



Family members of all the service members whose names are being added to The Wall will be on hand, and a member of each family will speak about their family member whose name is being added and what the day means to them.



By 4 May, the other names will have been added and all of the designations will have been changed.



A variety of factors, including the weather and where the sun is hitting The Wall, determine when each of the changes or additions is made.



When names are added, the highly technical procedure requires meticulous work to match the stroke and depth of the surrounding names to within one-thousandth of an inch.



The six names being added this year meet the Department of Defense (DOD) criteria for addition to The Wall: all of the men died as a result of wounds sustained in the combat zone during the Vietnam War.





NAMES BEING ADDED TO THE WALL -





Lance Corporal



JOHN EDWARD GRANVILLE



U.S. Marine Corps



Los Angeles, California

7 January 1949 – 26 April 2007

Date of Casualty: 12 June 1968

Wall Location: Panel 56W, Line 34



The Department of Defense (DOD) ruled that medical evidence submitted by the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) about Lance Corporal Granville shows that he qualifies as having "died as a result of wounds (combat or hostile related) sustained in the combat zone" due to the amputations that he received as a result of his wounds.





Lance Corporal



CLAYTON KENNETH HOUGH JR



U.S. Marine Corps



Holyoke, Massachusetts

1 October 1947 – 2 February 2004

Date of Casualty: 22 February 1969

Wall Location: Panel 8W, Line 3



Medical evidence submitted by the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) indicates that Lance Corporal Hough qualifies as having "died as a result of wounds (combat or hostile related) sustained in the combat zone" due to the amputations that he received as a result of his wounds.





Captain



EDWARD FRANCIS MILES



U.S. Army



Manhasset, N.Y.

17 August 1944 – 26 January 2004

Date of Casualty: 26 April 1969

Wall Location: Panel 26W, Line 55



The U. S. Army Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) has made the determination that Captain Miles died as a result of wounds sustained on 26 April 1969 from a “booby trap” set by hostile forces.





Sergeant



MICHAEL JOSEPH MOREHOUSE



U.S. Army



Covington, Kentucky

15 February 1949 – 14 August 2004

Date of Casualty: 1 April 1969

Wall Location: Panel 26W, Line 1



The U. S. Army Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) has made the determination that Sergeant Morehouse died as a result of wounds sustained by hostile action on 1 April 1969 in Vietnam.





Lieutenant Colonel



WILLIAM LYNWOOD TAYLOR



U.S. Army



Tampa, Florida

19 December 1941 – 23 January 2009

Date of Casualty: 21 September 1970

Wall Location: Panel 7W, Line 81



The U. S. Army Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG) has made the determination that Lieutenant Colonel Taylor died as a result of wounds sustained by hostile action on 21 September 1970 in Vietnam.





Corporal



RONALD MICHAEL VIVONA



U.S. Marine Corps



Suffolk, N.Y.

30 November 1946 – 28 April 2008

Date of Casualty: 6 April 1968

Wall Location: Panel 50E, Line 36



Medical evidence submitted by the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) indicates that Corporal Vivona died as a result of wounds (combat or hostile related) sustained in the combat zone.





“ We will add the names as close as possible to their dates of casualty, so these servicemen can remain in the company of those they served with,” said Scruggs.



The name of Taylor will be added on the location corresponding to his exact date of casualty.





STATUS CHANGES



Beside each name on the Memorial is a symbol designating status.



The diamond symbol denotes confirmed death.



The cross represents missing in action.



When a service member’s remains are returned or accounted for, the diamond is superimposed over the cross.



In addition to the six names being added this year, 11 designation changes will be made as well.





THE SPEAKERS



James Lee has performed the name additions for many years through his former company, Great Panes Glassworks. Now with Engrave Write, he will continue making the inscriptions for The Wall. Before adding Taylor’s name, Lee will explain some of the technical aspects of the work.



JC Cummings, AIA, is the architect of record for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.



He worked for the Cooper Lecky architectural firm that helped build The Wall back in 1982.



In addition, representatives from each of the families of the service members whose names are being added will make remarks about their loved ones.





ADDING NAMES



Next week’s changes will bring the total number of names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to 58,267 men and women who were killed or remain missing in action.



The six new names will become “ official " when they are read aloud during the annual Memorial Day Ceremony at The Wall on Monday 31 May at 1:00 p.m.



The Department of Defense sets the criteria for and makes decisions about whose names are eligible for inscription on The Wall.



The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund pays for the name additions and status changes, and works with the National Park Service to ensure long-term preservation and maintenance of The Wall.



Dedicated on 13 November 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built to honor all who served with the U.S. armed forces during the Vietnam War.



It has become known as an international symbol of healing and is the most-visited memorial on the National Mall.



Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., promoting healing and educating about the impact of the Vietnam War.



Authorized by Congress, its most recent initiative is building The Education Center at The Wall, an underground facility near the Memorial that is designed to add faces to all the names on The Wall and tell their stories.



Other Memorial Fund initiatives include educational programs for students and teachers, a traveling Wall replica that honors our nation's veterans and a humanitarian and mine-action program in Vietnam.









R E M E M B R A N C E