For Immediate Release
May 26, 2010 |
Contact: Lisa Gough
(202) 393-0090, ext. 109 |
KENTUCKY GOV. STEVE BESHEAR PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR THE EDUCATION CENTER AT THE WALL
Announcement was made at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 26
Washington, D.C. – Standing near the giant sundial that makes up the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the state capital of Frankfort, Gov. Steve Beshear and Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund President Jan Scruggs announced today that Beshear has joined the leadership team for the Education Center at The Wall.
The Education Center is an underground facility being built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that will put faces to the more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Center will tell the stories of those who served in Vietnam and recognize the values common to all service members.
“Every time that a governor like Gov. Beshear pledges his support, every time a state like yours recognizes the importance of this project and gets behind it, we are one step closer to achieving our goals,” Scruggs said.
The afternoon event was organized to announce the governor’s involvement with the Education Center and gather supporters from around the state. Those in attendance included officials from the American Legion department of Kentucky; the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Kentucky division; Disabled American Veterans, department of Kentucky; AMVETS; Paralyzed Veterans of America, Kentucky-Indiana chapter; Vietnam Veterans of America; the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund; and members of the state legislature. Frankfort Mayor “Gippy” Graham and Helm Roberts, architect of the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also attended.
“With Memorial Day upon us, I am proud to join in this effort to honor and recognize those who sacrificed everything for our country,” Gov. Beshear announced at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “For more than 240 years, Kentuckians have never hesitated to answer their country’s call to service, and we shall certainly do no less now.”
The Education Center
Beshear joins 19 other governors on the leadership team for the Center. Members of the leadership team provide ideas, recruit supporters and lead grassroots efforts to raise awareness and gather photos of the individuals from their states whose names are on The Wall. Beshear has vowed to mobilize the state’s veteran’s groups to help collect the photos of the 1,058 Kentuckians whose names are on The Wall.
The images being collected will be included on a Wall of Faces that will show, on their birthdays, photos of those who died or remain missing from the Vietnam War.
Other exhibits planned for the Education Center will include a display showcasing some of the more than 100,000 items that have been left in tribute at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a timeline of events during the Vietnam War and a history of the creation of The Wall.
The Center will highlight values embodied by service members in all of America’s wars, including loyalty, duty, respect, service, honor, integrity and courage. The Center will also show images of some of the people who served in all of America’s wars, “reminding us that those who served in Vietnam are a link in the chain of service and patriotism that stretches from the Revolutionary War to the present day,” Scruggs added.
The Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Speakers at the Wednesday event included Gov. Beshear, Scruggs and Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Ken Lucas.
Making the announcement at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial was a fitting reminder of the price Kentucky has paid to defend our freedoms. While there are 1,058 individuals on The Wall in Washington, D.C., whose “home of record” is listed with the Department of Defense as Kentucky, the state memorial in Frankfort lists 1,100. Individuals who grew up in the state or had ties to it, but did not have Kentucky listed as their “home of record” when they served in Vietnam, were still considered Kentuckians for the state memorial.
The beautiful and symbolic Kentucky memorial uses the design concept of a large sundial. The stainless steel gnomon (the “hand” of the sundial) casts its shadow upon a granite plaza, where visitors can see all of the names of Kentuckians killed or missing in action from the Vietnam War. Each name is engraved into the plaza and placed so that the tip of the shadow touches his name on the anniversary of his death, thus giving each fallen veteran a personal Memorial Day.
Gov. Steve Beshear
In the area of veterans affairs, Gov. Beshear has supported and signed bills to benefit Kentucky’s veterans every year since his election, including restoring veterans preference in state hiring, approving state funding for expansion of one veterans nursing home and construction of a fourth, and identifying combat experience in veterans charged with crimes to ensure they have appropriate assistance.
By joining the leadership team, Gov. Beshear is helping future generations learn about an important time in our nation’s history. Currently, nearly $25 million has been raised, including the lead gift of $10 million from Time Warner. VVMF has received donations from corporations, organizations, veterans groups and individuals. For more information on the Center, visit http://www.buildthecenter.org/.
Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., promoting healing and educating about the impact of the Vietnam War. Authorized by Congress, its most recent initiative is building The Education Center at The Wall, an underground facility near the Memorial that is designed to add faces to all the names on The Wall and tell their stories. Other Memorial Fund initiatives include educational programs for students and teachers, a traveling Wall replica that honors our nation's veterans and a humanitarian and mine-action program in Vietnam.
2010 Tour Schedule 
