News Release: Guam Governor Joins Education Team

13 April 2010

Guam Gov. Felix Camacho has joined the leadership team for the campaign to build The Education Center at The Wall.
The Education Center is an underground facility being built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that will put faces to the more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Center will tell the stories of those who served in Vietnam and recognize the values common to all service members.

“Gov. Camacho’s experience and sincere commitment to our cause will make him an excellent addition to the leadership team,” said Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF). “We look forward to working with him to raise support for the Education Center in Guam and throughout the United States.”

Gov. Camacho’s desire to support The Education Center at the Wall is partly inspired by his father, Carlos Camacho, who served as governor of Guam from 1969 to 1975. During his term, Camacho made two Christmas visits to the troops from Guam who were fighting in Vietnam, in 1969 and 1970. These trips made him one of the only U.S. governors to travel to Vietnam during the height of the conflict.

“The people of Guam made a significant contribution to our country during the Vietnam War,” said Gov. Camacho. “We owe a debt of gratitude to those who served and especially to the 69 individuals from Guam whose names are on The Wall. The Education Center presents an opportunity to honor their service and tell their stories.”

Camacho joins 18 other governors on the leadership team for the Center. Members of the leadership team provide ideas, recruit supporters and lead grassroots efforts to raise awareness and gather photos of the individuals from their states whose names are on The Wall.

As a member of the leadership team, Camacho will help VVMF gather photos of the 69 individuals from Guam whose names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The images being collected will be included on a Wall of Faces that will show, on their birthdays, photos of those who died or remain missing from the Vietnam War. Other exhibits planned for the Education Center will include a display showcasing some of the more than 100,000 items that have been left in tribute at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a timeline of events during the Vietnam War and a history of the creation of The Wall.

Gov. Camacho is the sixth elected governor of Guam. Since 2003, he has transformed the unincorporated territory of the United States through policies that have aided in the construction of new schools, rebuilt and modernized the roadways across the island and facilitated the use of federal guarantees and private sector investment to build hundreds of new homes for low to moderate income families. The two-term governor has also begun the government of Guam’s planning and advocacy of federal interagency cooperation for the transfer of the III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa to Guam, the largest relocation of U.S. military personnel since the end of World War II.

By joining the leadership team, Gov. Camacho is helping future generations learn about an important time in our nation’s history. Currently, nearly $25 million has been raised of the estimated $85 million needed to build the Center, including the lead gift of $10 million from Time Warner. VVMF has received donations from corporations, organizations, veterans groups and individuals. For more information on the Center, visit buildthecenter.org.

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