Thursday, January 24, 2008

"In Memory" Day Honors Those Who Died As a Result of the Vietnam War

All of us are familiar with The Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., which memorializes veterans of that war who were killed in combat situations. You may have visited The Wall in person or the traveling Wall which toured the country. Are aware that there are at least two places online where the names of those engraved on the monument can be searched (here and here)?

While presenting my Military Records lesson during my Intermediate Online Genealogy class Tuesday night, one of my students, a widow of a Vietnam veteran who died as a result of Agent Orange exposure, informed us of the In Memory program. Veterans such as her husband do not fit the Department of Defense criteria for inclusion on The Wall. However, an annual memorial event, In Memory Day, held on the third Monday of April, pays tribute to those men and women who sacrificed for their country. The latest inductees' names are read aloud, and certificates bearing their names are placed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. These are later collected by the National Park Service and archived, and the names written in an In Memory Honor Roll book. A list of the 2007 Honorees is searchable online.

If you know an American hero that should be commemorated at the next In Memory Day, please read the information on this page.

2 comments:

Moultrie Creek said...

Thanks for this. I've passed it on in my veterans mailing list. I'm sure there are many who will find it interesting.

Miriam Robbins said...

Anytime, Denise. I thought it was so interesting to learn about this. I hope the database eventually gets expanded to include all those who are honored, not just the one from the last "In Memory" Day. Let your veteran friends know, too, that both virtual VVMW databases I linked to have guestbooks where family, friends, and loved ones can leave messages.