News Release: New Mexico collects photos of all fallen service members

03 December 2013

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s (VVMF) national call for photos campaign, "Faces Never Forgotten", has worked to gather photographs and stories of the 58,286 servicemen and women who gave their lives in the Vietnam War.

All are memorialized on VVMF's virtual Wall of Faces, an online memorial page for each casualty. With more than 26,000 Vietnam veterans listed on The Wall who are in need of photographs, the VVMF has confirmed that the Vietnam Veterans of America, Northern New Mexico Chapter 996 has put a face to every New Mexican on The Wall. New Mexico is the first state to have completed this momentous task. The photos and stories will live online and will be displayed at the Education Center at The Wall in Washington, D.C.

Since the Call for Photos campaign was launched in October 009, the Vietnam Veterans of America, Northern New Mexico Chapter 996, led by Team Leader Arturo Canales, has worked tirelessly to get the job done. Family, friends and acquaintances of these fallen heroes have assisted in locating all of the 398 photographs needed.

While VVMF is excited to celebrate this hard-earned achievement, the work is far from complete. There are still 40 photos assessed as poor quality, which will ultimately means that better photos are needed to be displayed at the Education Center. The Education Center at The Wall will bring these photos and their stories to life. Using the latest digital technology, the Education Center will connect future generations to the lasting impacts, insights, and individual heroes of the Vietnam War by personalizing those who sacrificed so much.

“Putting a face to every name is momentous,” said Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of VVMF. “These men were real people, who had dreams and aspirations just like the rest of us. When you look at them you can truly humanize what The Wall represents.”

If you have a picture of a loved one or fellow veteran whose name is on The Wall, please help the VVMF honor these individuals by putting a face with a name. Regardless of whether or not VVMF has a photo of the individual already, submit it anyway.

You may submit your photograph online or by mail. If you have a digital copy of the photograph, you can upload the photograph right onto their profile page. Go to www.vvmf.org/wall-of-faces and search for their name in either the "Search The Wall" bar or by using the "Advanced Search."

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