VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND, FLEX-IN® INSTALL ‘WEATHER-RESISTANT’ DIRECTORIES OF NAMES AT THE WALL
Solves Decades-Old Problem at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 26, 2003 — A new, more durable version of the Directory of Names – the books that provide locations to the more than 58,000 names on The Wall – was installed earlier this month at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The finished product was the end result of nearly 14 months of work by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and McLean, Virginia-based FLEX-IN®, a binding industry leader.

A little over a year ago, FLEX-IN® (www.flex-in.com) contacted the Memorial Fund after noticing the tattered condition of the paperback Directories of Names at the Memorial. The two organizations worked together to create the new laminated directories. FLEX-IN® provides integrated, display-ready and virtually indestructible presentations for a wide spectrum of applications. Most notably, it re-engineers catalogs for retail furniture stores, such as IKEA and Ethan Allen, to use in stores, leveraging attractive display technologies, ergonomic browsing and heavy-duty performance.

FLEX-IN® completed the first Directory in December 2002 and promptly gave it to the National Park Service for installation. However, the federal agency that conducts daily maintenance of the Memorial said that the new Directory could not be installed into the existing stands. After Members of Congress intervened, the new Directory was returned to FLEX-IN® on August 13, 2003. The next day, FLEX-IN® director Victor Gogoana installed the Directory in less than one hour. An electrical engineer by training, Gogoana immigrated to the United States with his wife and son eight years ago.
 

“One of my first stops in Washington, D.C. was at the museums and monuments,” Gogoana said. “It is an honor and a privilege to lend my services to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This country has provided my family with a lot of opportunities, I feel it is important to give something back.”

Currently, one laminated Directory is available at the Memorial site. Other Directories will be added over the next few months. The Memorial Fund pays for a number of maintenance-related projects regarding the Memorial, including the five Directories of Names available for visitors to use at the two-acre site.

“Visitors to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial should always be able to use the Directories of Names to locate a friend or loved one's name on The Wall,” Memorial Fund President Jan Scruggs said. “Unfortunately, some of the Directories are incomplete with missing and torn pages or tattered from having been continuously exposed to the elements.”

“The Memorial Fund will continue to work with FLEX-IN® over the next few months to improve the overall visitors' experiences at The Wall and to ensure that the Directories remain in pristine condition for the Memorial's visitors. We applaud the commitment and dedication of FLEX-IN® to create a longer-lasting, weather-resistant version of the Directory of Names.”

For more than 20 years, the Memorial Fund has worked with a number of vendors and consultants to properly maintain the Memorial site. Earlier this month, it hired Oakton, Virginia-based Vance International, Inc., a leading provider of executive protection, uniformed security and asset protection services, to determine the Memorial's overall state of security and to assess the existing procedures in the event of a terrorist attack and other potentially dangerous situations.

Last year after The Washington Post reported that nearly a third of The Wall's lights were not functioning properly, the Memorial Fund hired Lanham, Maryland-based Power Solutions, LLC, an electrical contractor that now performs weekly maintenance to the Memorial's 18-year-old lighting system. Also last year, the Memorial Fund accepted a dozen hand-held digital Directories of Names donated by Dallas, Texas-based Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. for use by the Memorial's volunteers after the National Park Service refused the donation.

“As the founders and original caretakers of The Wall, the Memorial Fund will remain vigilant in its effort to ensure that the Memorial site is properly maintained,” Memorial Fund President Jan Scruggs said. “As the most visited Memorial in Washington, D.C., it is imperative that we set an example for all of the other memorials in the nation's capital. The Memorial and its facilities must and will remain in good shape with state-of-the-art enhancements.”

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the most visited Memorial in the nation's capital with more than four million visitors each year. It is dedicated to all who served with U.S. Armed Forces in the Vietnam War and its black granite panels are inscribed with the names of the 58,235 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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, through a series of outreach programs, the organization 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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