Do you know these men?
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund still lacks photographs of several Vietnam War veterans from the tri-state area. They are:Hamilton County, TennesseeJames T. Gray, 1940-1965Rayfon Lofton, 1944-1966Franklin D. Ratliff, 1948-1968Clifton Tanksley, 1931-1967Tomas C. Tucker, 1943-1969James F. Watson, 1932-1968Walker County, GeorgiaWilliam L. Byrd, 1944-1970, RossvilleBilly R. Head, 1939-1969, ChickamaugaBillie H. Smith, 1943-1966, RossvilleChattooga County, GeorgiaBenny R. Dupree, 1950-1969, SummervilleNathaniel Knowles, 1942-1967, MenloFloyd County, GeorgiaThomas S. Jones, 1947-1967, RomeEddie L. Spivey, 1937-1970, RomeDeKalb County, AlabamaLouis L. Clanton, 1944-1968, CollinsvilleCherokee County, AlabamaLewis E. Cantrell, 1944-1967, CentreJimmie L. Chamblee, 1945-1970, CentreSource: Janna Hoehn
As area residents get ready to celebrate Independence Day, a volunteer with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C., is making another plea for help in finding photographs of a few Vietnam War veterans.
When Janna Hoehn first contacted the Times Free Press in February, she needed photos for 22 fallen heroes from Hamilton County, out of 88 from the county who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
The veterans’ images appear on tribute pages on the VVMF’s website, www.vvmf.org, and eventually will be used as part of a planned education center in the nation’s capital. The $130 million facility will include more personal histories of the 58,315 veterans whose names are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
About $42 million has been raised for the education center, which will be located on the National Mall near the Wall, according to Heidi Zimmerman, director of communications for the VVMF. Much of the expense, she says, comes from locating the center underground to preserve the sight lines between the Wall and the Lincoln Memorial.