FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
OCTOBER 26, 2011
CONTACT: LEE ALLEN
TEL.: (202) 393-0090, EXT. 109
EMAIL: LALLEN@VVMF.ORG
 

 TALK HOST RUSTY HUMPHRIES TO ASSIST
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND EFFORT

Radio Personality Honors Father Killed in Action in Vietnam, Challenges Others to Lend Support

WASHINGTON, DC – Nationally syndicated radio talk host Rusty Humphries will serve as the National Radio Spokesman for the “Build the Education Center at the Wall” campaign being spearheaded by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, it was announced today.  The campaign is raising funds to construct a multi-media Education Center adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 

“Nobody is better suited to tackle this mission than Rusty Humphries, whose father, Gary Dean Humphries, was killed in action in Vietnam in January of 1969 when Rusty was just three years old,” said VVMF Founder and President Jan Scruggs. “The Education Center at The Wall will help ensure that that his dad and all of our military heroes' stories and sacrifices will never be forgotten.”

“Every time I’m in Washington, I visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, gaze up at my father’s name on Panel 34W, Line 84, and wish that I’d have gotten to know the man whose name appears there, my father,” Humphries said.  “The Education Center at the Wall will provide a living memorial to these heroes – not just the men and women like my dad whose names appear on the Wall, but all veterans, from Bunker Hill to the present day.”

In addition to his new duties as national spokesman, Humphries is spearheading a “Veterans Day Challenge” to raise funds for the Education Center.  Humphries will also be the Master of Ceremonies at a Gala at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC to benefit the Center featuring actor Tom Selleck on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2011. 

Humphries also announced today that he will devote his Veterans’ Day broadcast to promoting the Education Center. He’s challenging his colleagues in the radio industry join him by promoting the cause helping to raise funds.

Humphries’ show is heard on the Talk Radio Network on more than 250 stations nationwide and is heard daily on WGST, a Clear Channel Communication owned-station in Atlanta. Humphries was named one of “America’s 100 Most Important Radio Talk Hosts” by “Talkers” magazine for 10 years in a row.  He’s also been nominated as Talk Personality of the Year by “Radio and Records” magazine, and is the youngest nominee ever inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame. 

About the Education Center
The Education Center at The Wall is a place on our National Mall where our military heroes' stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten. With a groundbreaking planned for November 2012, the Education Center at The Wall is a multi-million dollar, state-of- the-art visitor’s center and learning facility to be built on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans and the Lincoln Memorials. Visitors will better understand the profound impact the Vietnam War had their friends and family members, their home towns, and the Nation. The Education Center will feature the faces and stories of the 58,272 men and women on “The Wall,” honoring those who fell in Vietnam, those who fought and returned, as well as the friends and families of all who served. For more information, visit www.buildthecenter.org.

About VVMF
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.

Support the Education Center at The Wall by visiting www.buildthecenter.org, calling 866-990-WALL, or by texting "WALL" to 2022.

- 30 –

Editors:  For additional information, visit www.veteransdaymatch.org/rusty-humphries/and www.BuildTheCenter.org