[EDITOR'S NOTE: DATE OF EVENT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO MONDAY, MAY 12 AT 9 a.m.]

SIX NEW NAMES TO BE ADDED TO VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL
Children of Massachusetts KIA To Watch As Name Inscribed on The Wall

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 8, 2003 --- In preparation for the Annual Memorial Day Observance at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C, the names of six American service members will be inscribed next week on the black granite wall of names, announced Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The event is scheduled for Monday, May 12, at 9 a.m. (RAIN DATE: Tuesday, May 13 at 9 a.m.) at The Wall. Brian Joyce of Watertown, Massachusetts and Colleen Joyce Pontes of Riverdale, New York will watch as their father's name, Kevin J. Joyce, is inscribed onto 52 West, Line 34.

Army SPC Joyce died as a result of injuries received on July 15, 1968 on a combat mission in Vietnam. He sustained severe injuries from penetrating mine fragments resulting in his legs being amputated and ultimately died from that mission, according to Department of Defense documents.

The Memorial Fund will be paying for the Joyces' trip to Washington, D.C. to watch the inscription. Brian Joyce, 24, and Colleen Joyce Pontes, 31, are the only children of Kevin Joyce and Linda Joyce Levine. Colleen is eight months pregnant and plans to name the baby after her late father.

Memorial Architect of Record James Cummings, AIA, and expert stone worker James Lee of Denver, Colorado-based Great Panes Glassworks, Inc. will provide brief remarks about the newest additions and the inscription process. With the six new inscriptions, the Memorial now will bear the names of 58,235 men and women who were killed in Vietnam or remain missing in action.

The newest Wall additions are:

  • Air Force SSGT Donald Scott Carson (San Francisco, California)
    Date of Birth: November 3, 1931; Incident Date: April 12, 1963
    Date of Death: April 15, 1963; Wall Location: 8 East, Line 38
  • Army MSGT Frank Luther Huddleston (Clarksville, Tennessee)
    Date of Birth: February 19, 1934; Incident Date: May 17, 1966
    Date of Death: August 15, 2002; Wall Location: 16 East, Line 109
  • Army SPC Kevin John Joyce (Framingham, Massachusetts)
    Date of Birth: January 21, 1947; Incident Date: July 15, 1968
    Date of Death: February 9, 1996; Wall Location: 52 West, Line 34
  • Army SFC Dwaine Usry McGriff (Cullman, Alabama)
    Date of Birth: December 19, 1935; Incident Date: September 7, 1970
    Date of Death: January 7, 1999; Wall Location: 7 West, Line 51
  • Army SP4 James Mark Rogers (Waynesville, North Carolina)
    Date of Birth: January 25, 1948; Incident Date: December 14, 1968
    Date of Death: November 14, 1990; Wall Location: 36 West, Line 43
  • Army PFC William Joseph Scannell (Forest Park, Illinois)
    Date of Birth: February 13, 1948; Incident Date: August 28, 1968
    Date of Death: September 12, 1970; Wall Location: 44 West, Line 20

Each year, the Memorial Fund brings stone experts from Great Panes Glassworks, Inc. in Colorado to Washington, D.C. to perform the process of adding names to the black granite panels and changing the status designations of existing names from missing in action to killed in action. The highly technical procedure requires meticulous work matching the stroke and depth of the surrounding names to within one thousandth of an inch, Scruggs said.

This year, the status symbols of 32 service members listed on the Memorial will be changed from missing in action to killed in action. Preceding each name on the Memorial is a symbol designating status. The diamond symbol denotes that the service member's death was confirmed; the cross symbol denotes the person remains missing in action. When a service member's remains are returned or accounted for, the diamond symbol is superimposed over the cross.

The Department of Defense makes all decisions about persons who fit the established criteria to be inscribed on the Memorial. The Memorial Fund, which pays for the name additions and status changes, works with the National Park Service to ensure the long-term preservation and maintenance of The Wall.

The new name inscriptions and status changes become "official" at the Annual Memorial Day Observance at The Wall on Monday, May 26, 2003 when Brian Joyce reads aloud the six names during the ceremony. The 1 p.m. ceremony will feature retired U.S. Army General David Grange, CNN's military analyst and The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Dedicated on November 13, 1982, the Memorial was built to honor all who served with the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. It has become known as an international symbol of healing that has helped bring together those who stood on different sides during one of the most divisive periods in American history. Today, The Wall continues to be the most visited memorial in the nation's capital with more than 4.4 million visitors each year.

Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, it has developed a series of outreach programs dedicated to preserving the legacy of The Wall, to promoting healing and to educating about the impact of the Vietnam War.

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