Posted on 05/26/2002 2:34:37 PM PDT by Bowana
The Virtual Wall- An Internet Memorial
I visited The Vietnam Memorial, The Wall, in Washington D.C.. As we approached the wall people were talking and looking around the park, young and old alike. As we got closer to the wall it got quieter and quieter. The long line viewing the names on the wall was totally silent. A few approached to rub a pencil over a piece of paper and others just left personal items to honor their lost ones. These actions could not help but move anyone standing nearby. I was awestruck by the amount of people standing there and the total silence along the entire wall.
Now for those that have been to The Vietnam Memorial or those that haven't, there is a "Virtual Wall" on the Internet to honor those who died in service to our country.
In 1998 Winstar Communications and The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Fund created "the Virtual Wall", an Internet website in honor of the men and women who lost their lives during the Vietnam War. Visitors can view an interactive image of the wall and zoom in on the names on the wall.
Visitors may add their own personal memorials to the names on the wall and even get a Virtual name rubbing. There is no charge to join The Virtual Wall and by doing so you may enter remembrances of those people you knew that lost their lives and even create your own personalized "My Virtual Wall" to keep track of postings to those that you knew.
Each name on the Virtual Wall links to a personal profile of that person. There is also the ability to link to those on the wall who have things in common with the person that you are viewing like; Other Veterans with the same last name who died in Vietnam, other Veterans from the same state, others who died on the same day, others who died in the same area of Vietnam, and others in the same branch of service.
For anyone who has any interest in The Vietnam War and those who died there for America, this site is a must see.
The Virtual Wall: http://www.thevirtualwall.org/
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"In the fall of 1982, a U.S. Navy officer walked up to the trench where the concrete for the foundation of The Wall was being poured. He stood over the trench for a moment, then tossed something into it and saluted. A workman asked him what he was doing. He said he was giving his dead brother's Purple Heart to The Wall. That was the first offering."
A book "Offerings at the Wall" is a collection of pictures and stories of items left at the Wall. The Smithsonian Institute has many of these items on exhibit. Some of them can be seen on their website: http://photo2.si.edu/offerings/offerings.html
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My story from an MSNBC show called "Headliners and Legends" about an item left at the wall: The Torment of War
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Happy Memorial Day to All, and To All that served and are serving our country now, I say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!
You can go to this site and find all the other soldiers who might have perished in the same battle with someone, and I did so, and saw the names that Mike's commander on that terrible flight told me about.
It took 30 years to find any of the survivors to talk to, and I ended up talking to all of them, and they all told me about the other guys, and to remember this for them. They are not gone as long as we remember them.
Sorry, this is Memorial Day for me, right now.
Here is the same post on the General Interest Board:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/689823/posts
I don't know if they will get combined or not, it's just that when I received no comments on the General board, I went ahead and posted it to the News Board as well!
I don't know anyone who died in Vietnam, but when a friend sent this site to me, I just had to share it!
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