The woman who has made it her mission to find photos of Florida veterans killed in the Vietnam War gave an update on the Virtual Wall of Faces Project to the John Bartram Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution at the group’s latest meeting.
The Virtual Wall of Faces Project is dedicated to honoring and remembering each of the 58,000-plus fallen veterans whose name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Beth Braun, a resident of The Villages and the DAR chapter’s 2019 Community Service Award winner, has been actively searching throughout Florida and neighboring states to obtain photos of the young soldiers from that war. She has located the photos of 777 of the 1,857 Florida victims of the war.
Braun shared some of her experiences in contacting relatives some 50 years after their loved ones had died. Some of the relatives searched for photos and provided them. Many photos were received from newspaper obituaries, and many more came from high school yearbooks. She worked with school librarians, newspapers and, in many cases, cemeteries to find family members who might have a photo to add to the collection.
By 2012, 30 percent of those named on the wall had been located and photos obtained. By 2016, 50,000 had been found. Today, some 58,301 have been located and there are only 17 photos not identified. The Virtual Wall of Faces website was interested in 2019.
Braun has worked with members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1036 here in The Villages during her quest. The John Bartram Chapter will be working with members of Chapter 1036 on various commemorative services in the future, Regent Cindy Kolevar and Post President Rich Rademacher announced.