THE VIRTUAL WALL WEB SITE CONNECTS NAVY MEDIC WITH SON OF A MARINE WHO DIED MORE THAN 30 YEARS AGO
Technology Helps Son Learn More About Father He Never Knew; Web Site Features More Than 65,000 Stories About Friends and Loved Ones

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 9, 2003 --- This Father's Day will have a little more meaning for Jan Elkins II, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, thanks to a web site dedicated to preserving the legacy of the more than 58,000 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's The Virtual Wall (TheVirtualWall.org) helped bridge the information gap for Elkins, whose father U.S. Marine Corporal Jan Avery Elkins (East Brunswick, New Jersey) was killed more than 30 years ago in Vietnam.

On October 26, 1968, Corporal Elkins was fatally wounded when he tripped a 60-mm mortar round booby trap during mine sweeping detail. He was 20 years old and had been in Vietnam for just two months. His young wife was pregnant with Jan Elkins II, their son who would be born five months to the day after his father's death.

The younger Elkins never knew his father. While his mother and other family members tried to answer the questions about the circumstances of his father's death, a void of curiosity still remained for more than three decades.

In November 2001, Elkins II went to his local Kinko's store to participate in a national non-profit campaign, Put a Face with a Name, designed to collect a photograph for each of the service members whose names are inscribed on The Wall. Along with the photograph, he posted a message asking anyone with information about his father to contact him through email.

Just over a year later, former Navy Corpsman Greg Welch (Rancho Cordova, California) found the younger Elkins' Internet query. Welch served in Vietnam from October 1968 to October 1969 and was attached to the elder Elkins' Marine combat unit. Welch, along with another corpsman, was the first to reach Corporal Elkins after the explosion. Despite their efforts, the elder Elkins died. It was the first casualty that Welch experienced during his tour of duty.

"I found Jan's entry requesting information about his dad from anyone who knew him in country," Welch said. "Sadly, I did not know Corporal Elkins until the accident. I do know that he was aware that his chances of being injured or killed were high, but he did his job without complaining. This is something that I felt his son needed to know."

Said the younger Elkins: "The Virtual Wall has helped me find the medic who treated my dad; my father wound up dying in his arms. This web site has helped forge a new relationship with a stranger from my father's past. It has helped me to better understand the man I never knew."

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and Winstar Communications, Inc. created The Virtual Wall to extend the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Launched on November 10, 1998, by Vietnam veteran and Vice President Al Gore, the site allows visitors to go online and remember the more than 58,000 men and women whose names are inscribed on the Memorial. Soza & Company, Ltd., now Perotsystems, took over maintenance of The Virtual Wall in the spring of 2001.

The Virtual Wall allows families, friends and veterans to post text, audio or photo remembrances as well as obtain electronic name rubbings. To date, more than 65,000 remembrances have been posted to the site.

"The Virtual Wall allows family, friends and veterans who are unable to travel to the nation's capital to pay tribute to those they lost during the war," said Jan Scruggs, Memorial Fund founder and president. "It enables visitors to heal just like a visit to The Wall in Washington, D.C by giving them the opportunity to share memories, reunite or contact others who knew their loved ones."

The Put a Face with a Name campaign started in September 2001 as a joint effort between the Memorial Fund and Kinko's, Inc. More than 2,500 photo remembrances were added to The Virtual Wall during the four-month program. While Kinko's involvement ended on December of that year, the momentum gained through that joint effort continues. Today, the site features nearly 10,000 images of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice or who remain missing.

Individuals who are interested in posting a remembrance for someone whose name is inscribed on The Wall should contact the Memorial Fund at vvmf@vvmf.org or (202) 393-0090 or visit The Virtual Wall at TheVirtualWall.org.

Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the non-profit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, it works to preserve the legacy of The Wall, to promote healing and to educate about the impact of the Vietnam War.

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