Exhibits for
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center will give
faces to names of those memorialized on 'The
Wall'
WASHINGTON, Memorial Day 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a Capitol
Hill news conference, the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Fund (http://www.vvmf.org)
provided a first glimpse of the exhibits planned
for the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Center, an underground facility slated for the National Mall near the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial.
Ralph Appelbaum, who is designing the exhibits, spelled out the goals:
-- Enhance the Memorial experience
-- Honor those who died
-- Put faces with the names of those memorialized on The Wall
-- Encourage younger visitors to learn more
The Memorial Center project has the support of an impressive array of
respected public and military officials, including Gen. Colin L. Powell,
USA
(Ret.), the honorary chairman of the Campaign to
Build the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Center,
and Dr. Christos M. Cotsakos, campaign chairman.
Participants in the news conference included national figures such as
Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Sen. Chuck Hagel.
Among the highlights of the planned exhibit:
-- A wall of photos of fallen service members named on The Wall
-- A display of values such as Respect, Loyalty, Courage and Duty
-- A selection of the more than 100,000 artifacts that have been left
at
The Wall
-- A factual chronology of the war
-- A visual and written history of The Wall
-- A resource center
-- A connection of those fallen during Vietnam and those fallen
during
other American wars
The Center has been authorized by Congress, and the Memorial Fund is
working in partnership with the National Park Service, which ultimately
will operate the Center. These partners are working in conjunction with
the
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission and
all other appropriate entities. Groundbreaking
is estimated for 2010.
