Memorial lacks photos of local Vietnam veterans
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., displays the names of more than 58,000 dead or missing men and women, each one carved into black granite.
But in many cases, it’s possible to put a face with a name.
The nonprofit organization that oversees the memorial also offers the Wall of Faces – a searchable, online display of photographs of those same 58,000 men and women who died or remain missing from the war in Southeast Asia. But gathering images isn’t as easy as getting the names.
Some are missing, including 36 from Hampton Roads. A volunteer from Indiana wants to complete the list.
Of the 1,306 Virginians listed as casualties during the Vietnam War, only 150 do not have photos on the Wall of Faces, including 36 from the Tidewater area, according to David Hine.
Hine, who is from Indiana, is a retired Air Force senior master sergeant who spent five years at Langley Air Force in the late 1970s.
If other families have photos that belong on the wall, they shouldn’t wait, he said.
“The home of the widow of one of our Hoosier casualties was destroyed by fire, and the only photo that was saved was their wedding photo,” he wrote to the Daily Press. “The families of our Gulf Coast heroes have lost their photos because of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.”
The photos can be anything the family wishes to share, he said. A high school portrait, an image from a family gathering or, naturally, a military photo all qualify.
Hine has been trying to track down photos for several years, he said.
He started with his home state of Indiana, then turned his attention to states where he was stationed. That includes Ohio, home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and then Virginia. Hine spent 20 years in the Air Force and worked as an imagery analyst.
Hine didn’t do any tours in Vietnam, but he had a classmate who died there.
“This is my way of honoring and respecting those who did go and lost their lives,” he said.
Hine invited families to upload their photos or email him directly with an image. He can be reached at mrdavidlhine@att.net.
“We’re getting down to the last few photos in every state,” he said.
Of the 1,306 Virginia casualties, only 150 missing from Wall
Lessig can be reached by phone at 757-247-7821.