Submitted photo
The 1,071 soldiers from Minnesota who died in Vietnam are among the 58,282 names on The Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C. Faces Never Forgotten campaign is collecting the stories of 15 Minnesotans not yet cataloged.
Sam Schaust
Murphy News Service
Minnesota is on track to join the ranks of four other states in memorializing those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
The Faces Never Forgotten campaign began as a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund project and has gained traction with Americans nationwide. The campaign set out to find a photo and a short biography for each of the 58,282 names carved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Through extensive research, the memorial fund has taken the stockpile of names from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and broken them down by casualty date and military branch, then by hometown for each man and woman. The collection can be seen online at http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces. All of the photos and stories will also be included in the Vietnam Veterans Wall Education Center, to be built next to the wall later this decade.
Minnesota has been extraordinarily cooperative in bringing humanity to these heroic names, said Andrew Johnson, a volunteer for the memorial fund and National Newspaper Association board member.
“It began with at least 1,071 names needing photos, and right now it is down to only 15,” he said.
Wyoming was the first state to complete its list, followed by New Mexico and then North and South Dakota. States with larger populations still have hundreds of unknown identities, although similar Midwest states, like Wisconsin (with 64 names to go), are further from their goal than Minnesota.
“On Feb. 23, we passed the 40,000 mark,” said George DeCastro, program coordinator of Faces Never Forgotten. “We get a lot of response from newspaper clippings. Between mail, email and website submissions, up to 10 to 15 photos are given each day.”
The memorial fund is aiming to uncover as many of the pictures and stories behind the names by Memorial Day this year. However, DeCastro hopes to ultimately have the project finished before the planned education center across the street from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is built in 2019.
“When the center is built, you will be able to browse those profiles,” DeCastro said. Veterans will be forever on display within the construct of the new underground education center.
The 15 Minnesotans still be sought are Leroy E. Peterson and Eugene M. Rick, of Coon Rapids; Donald J. Jacobsen, of Montevideo; Allen J. Ritter and Melvin Stockdale, of Moorhead; Lawrence H. Harris, of Wilmar; Gerald J. Johnson, of Round Lake; Kenneth J. Honek, of East Grand Forks; Joseph S. Herron and Bruce D. Olson, of St. Paul; and five from Minneapolis, Richard V. Blackburn, David W. Erickson, Dennis W. Ferguson, William G. Moncrief and Richard W. Smith.
“We want to humanize them by showing where they grew up, getting a story from their parents or who they went to prom with … pretty much anything,” said Reed Anfinson, a Benson newspaper publisher and member of the National Newspaper Association. “Hopefully, someone will recognize some of these remaining names and at least put us in touch with their family.”
To submit a photo and accompanying biography for any one of these names, contact DeCastro at 202-393-0090, ext. 128, or gdecastro@vvmf.org. Submissions can also be made at vvmf.org/how-to-submit.
Vietnam Veterans Day
In honor of Vietnam Veterans Day on March 29, the Forest Lake American Legion Post 225 (355 West Broadway) will host a ceremony honoring the veterans at 2 p.m. this Sunday. The free event is open to the public, and guest speakers include U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer and Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, himself a Vietnam veteran. Orput will discuss the different way in which Vietnam veterans were treated when the came home, as opposed to the way other returning soldiers were treated.
For more information on the event, contact Diane Finneman at dfinnemann@msn.com or 651-464-4721.