Vietnam ‘Wall of Faces’ project needs photos of five local vets
Published 8:20 am Tuesday, June 6, 2017
A woman in Hawaii is working to find photos of every veteran whose name is etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. She’s looking for help from local residents to find photos of several veterans from Boyle, Garrard and Lincoln counties.
“Putting a face with a name changes the whole dynamic of the wall,” said Janna Hoehn. “It keeps our Fallen Heroes memories alive and will honor them, our heroes stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Hoehn is hoping to track down photos of five people who are named on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in order to add them to the “Virtual Wall of Faces,” available online at vvmd.org/Wall-of-Faces:
• Ronald L. Million of Danville, born 1943, died 1968;
• Robert L. Campbell of Lancaster, born 1946, died 1968;
• Raymond L. Naylor of Lancaster, born 1941, died 1966;
• Larry L. Reynolds of Kings Mountain, born 1945, died 1966; and
• George Rowland Jr. of Hustonville, born 1946, died 1967.
All other Vietnam veterans listed for this area already have their photos in the project, she said.
According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, the Virtual Wall of Faces is “an effort to further preserve the legacy of those who sacrificed all in Vietnam.”
“VVMF is committed to finding a photo to go with each of the more than 58,000 names on The Wall,” according to the organization’s website. “The Wall of Faces allows family and friends to share memories, post pictures and connect with each other.”
The VVMF is also fundraising to open an education center at the memorial in Washington, D.C., which would feature the photos and stories of Vietnam veterans.
Hoehn said she has worked to locate photos of those named on the memorial in 19 states and has helped to collect more than 5,000 photos since 2011. In all, the VVMF has collected photos of more than 51,000 of the 58,315 people named, she said.
“If anyone is related — a friend or a classmate — to any of the young men on the list, I would very much appreciate hearing from you,” Hoehn said. “Even if you don’t have a photo but know which school any of these young men attended, it would be so helpful.
“… I am also looking for an individual that would like to volunteer to be my boots on the ground in your community if we do not find all the photos. It may mean a trip to the library to search for obituaries or to a high school to look through yearbooks.”
SO YOU KNOW
Photos or information about the five local Vietnam veterans for whom photos are missing from the Wall of Faces project can be submitted to neverforgotten2014@gmail.com or by visiting vvmd.org/Wall-of-Faces and searching for the person’s name. An online form will allow you to submit a photo of the person.