Conley Publishing - Special Sections
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/682386
2 • C o n l e y M e d i a • M e m o r i a l D a y • 2 0 1 6 continued from front I then went to Washington D.C. in March 2013 with a small group of newspaper publishers representing the National News- paper Association, and offered the assistance of community newspapers from across the country to help find the photos for the project to a small team of people who run the Vietnam Veterans Memorial led by Lee Allen. At the time we met, only one state had found all of its photos: New Mexico. Lee and his team were excited about the "juice" we put into the effort. I asked Lee Allen to be a featured speaker at the National Newspa- per Association Convention in October 2014. He asked news- papers from all over the country for help, and many newspaper publishers stepped forward. Today, ten states have located all photos and four more are close to finishing. Over 10,700 photos have been found since commu- nity newspapers from across the country have joined the effort. Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) Effort When the WNA first starting working on this project in the spring of 2014, there were over 450 of the 1161 Wisconsin photos were still missing. I got an accurate list of names from the folks at the VVMF in Washington D.C. The staff at the WNA divided up the list of missing photos by geographic area and then gave the names to newspapers in each geographic area. Many newspapers ran stories and a huge number of photos were found in the first year. It is important to give credit for finding many of the photos be given to many dedicated newspa- per staff members who really took an interest in this project. Also, many citizens and family members found photos and up- loaded them directly to the VVMF website. Fast forward to February, 2015. Only 64 Wiscon- sin photos were still missing. At that time I staffed a booth the WNA annual convention for the VVMF Faces project. The vast majority of the last 64 missing photos of service members were from the Milwaukee metro area. I told newspaper publishers we wanted to find every photo by Memorial Day 2015. Several people doubted we could find them all. However, a UW Milwaukee journalism lecturer, Jessica McBride, came to my booth and talked with me about the project. The next day, Jessica came to my booth again and informed me that she, as well as students in two of her journalism classes were willing to help find the remaining photos. She was just what the effort needed. Jessica is an experienced inves- tigative reporter with a real heart for those who served and were killed in the military. Jessica's help was gladly welcomed. It should also be noted that UW Milwaukee administration was very supportive of this effort. A few of the remaining photos were found by other journalists but the majority of them were found by UW Milwaukee students and Jessica. About this section This section displays all of the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Faces and is the first of its kind in the United States. It will be used as a role model for other states as they find all of their photos. The photos and informa- tion about the service members came from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial people in Washington D.C. There are three reasons for publishing all of the photos in Wisconsin newspapers. First is to bring awareness of the great sacrifices Wisconsin service members and their families gave (and many are still giving) in the Vietnam era. Adding photos to the list of names tells more of the story. Second is to bring aware- ness and need for funds for the new Education Center that will be built near the WALL that will honor killed U.S. service members killed in Vietnam as well as in all U.S. wars. Third, this section will be archived at the Wisconsin Historical Society since it is published in a Wiscon- sin newspaper. The contents of this section will be available and searchable for free to the public on Wisconsin 's BadgerLink system available in Wisconsin public libraries and schools 90 days after publication. It was a huge team effort by many players who made finding all of the photos for the Wisconsin VVMF Faces project possible. I want to give my sincere congratulations to all who worked on the Faces project. However, we must never forget that the photos represent real people who lived and died for our country. They have families (Gold Star families) who still bear the great cost of war. The sacrifices of these service members as well as all U.S. service members killed in the line of duty must always be remembered. The price of freedom is very expensive. It is only fitting that every photo found be published on the first Memorial Day after all of the photo files and information could be assembled for publication. Further, by publishing all of the photos in Wisconsin newspapers, they will be digitally archived at the Wisconsin Historical Society and will from this day forward be available to all for generations to come! There are currently 58,307 names on VVMF Wall and a total of 13,298 photos missing for Faces project. Finding The Photos M E M O R I A L D A Y 2 0 1 6 A Message From Jim Knotts VVMF is the nonprofit organization that founded the The Wall in Washington, D.C., in 1982. Our continuing mission is to honor and preserve the legacy of service in America and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War and era. As part of that commitment, we are collecting a photo of every service member listed on The Wall. There are more than 58,000 service members listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and behind each one is a face and a story of a life cut short and dreams unfulfilled. So far, more than 45,000 photos have been found. At this time, Wisconsin is one of nine states that are complete. We are about 13,000 photos away from our goal. Volunteers around the country are working hard to find every last photo so these faces are never forgotten. The photos are displayed on VVMF's virtual Wall of Faces where family and friends can share memories and connect with each other. They also will be displayed in the future Education Center at The Wall. The Center currently is in the fundraising stage and help from all over the country is needed to make sure we secure the funds to begin construction. Once the doors open, a two- story digital Wall of Faces will be one of the primary exhibits in the Center. Future genera- tions will not only be able to visit The Wall and see the names, they also will be able to visit the Center and see the faces and learn about the stories behind those names. Visitors will learn about the lasting impact of the Vietnam War and era and how our nation is different today because of what happened then. VVMF could not be more thankful to the people of Wisconsin in bringing us to this point. We couldn't have done it without the help of the Wisconsin Newspaper Associ- ation and Andrew Johnson leading the charge. It is volunteers like Andrew that have made all the difference across the country and will ensure that we never forget these heroes. Our traveling exhibit, The Wall That Heals, which in- cludes a half-scale Wall replica and mobile Education Center, will be in Wisconsin in August. I invite you to come out and see us then so we can properly thank the people of Wisconsin for their help in this effort. I also invite you to visit our website, www.vvmf.org, to see the Wall of Faces and learn more about the heroes pictured there. We hope you'll be moved to learn more about our efforts and how to get involved. You can help us achieve our vision of ensuring a society in which all who have served and sacrificed in our nation's Armed Forces are properly honored. Thank you for your support of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the names inscribed on it. Jim Knotts President and CEO of VVMF Arby's Supports, Honors, and Employs Veterans 250247001