From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: Park Rangers Protect Memories At "The Wall"
Date: 20 Aug 92 13:53:12 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC

Park Rangers Protect Memories Left Around Vietnam Veterans `Wall'

By Rudi Williams
American Forces Information Service

     Thousands of people have placed offerings of love, devotion,
caring, anger, trauma and sadness at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
in the nation's capital.
     They silently amble away leaving behind precious pieces of
broken dreams -- teddy bears, toys, wedding bands, class rings,
musical instruments, photographs, Christmas trees, uniforms,
medals, food, beverages and more.
     "This is the only war memorial we know of where people have
left more than flowers and flags," said Pam West, curator of the
National Park Service's Museum and Archaeological Regional Storage
Facility in nearby Lanham, Md.  "That's what makes this phenomenon
so interesting.  People are leaving things at the memorial that are
normally handed down to grandsons and granddaughters -- Medal of
Honor ribbons, badges, uniforms, etc."
     So far, visitors have left more than 25,000 items at the
memorial.  They're stored at the storage facililty.
     When the practice started 10 years ago, National Park Service
rangers didn't know what to do with the items.  Rangers scooped up
the memories and stored the nonperishable items in a warehouse.
The general public has never been able to see them.  The public
can't visit, but veterans and researchers can, according to West.
     But that will change Oct. 27, 1992.  That's when the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History opens
a seven-month exhibit featuring some of the artifacts.  The museum
is on Constitution Ave. between 12th and 14th Sts., NW, in
Washington, D.C.
     The exhibit opens a few days before the 10th anniversary of
the memorial's dedication and runs through June 7, 1993.
     Exhibiting the artifacts was the idea of Vietnam veteran John
Wheeler.  He worked on the fund that raised money to build the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Leah Miller is national director of the
exhibition project.  Wheeler convinced her to use the title of a
poem and song she wrote -- "Beyond the Wall" -- as the theme of the
fund-raising campaign.
     "Our goal is to raise $200,000 to pay for the exhibit," said
Miller.  "We've already raised about $100,000 (as of late July)."

     Wheeler heads the fund-raising aspect of the project.  Miller
helps, too, but spends most of her time working with the museum
and the National Park Service.
     Miller is excited about the project.  "The items people leave
are very meaningful and sensitive," she said.  "They tell a story
of their relationships with someone special who lost their life or
is missing in Vietnam.
     "Some people who leave items don't even know anyone's name on
the wall," Miller said.  "They leave items because they want
everyone to know they're sharing in the loss of someone's loved
one."
     Park rangers found a note that read, "I didn't know you, but
I'm proud of what you did."
     "We don't have any plans for a permanent display, because we
don't want the objects to become the story rather than the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial," said Jennifer P. Lock, the Smithsonian's
exhibit project manager.  "After all, if we didn't have the wall,
we wouldn't have the collection of artifacts.  It's the power of
the wall that prompts people to come and leave these items."
     Museum officials will supplement the artifacts with text
panels, graphics, photo murals and architectural model of the
memorial, said Locke, a member of the museum's Armed Forces
Division.
     There's a reason for every object left at the wall, West said.
Two people could leave POW/MIA bracelets for completely different
reasons, West said.
     "The wall is so powerful that people bring these things from
their homes and leave them in a public place," West continued.  "In
the beginning, when people left things, they didn't know what would
happen to them.  Now they know we (the Park Service) store them --
take care of them.
      "I have a 21-year-old son, and I don't know if I could leave
his teddy bear at the wall," said West.  "But a lot of parents have
done it -- for whatever reason."
     She said every time you touch an artifact or read a card or
letter, you come away with a sense of emotion of the person who
left it.  "You can't help feeling some of the emotion when you're
dealing with the artifact," West said.
     "It's a tough collection to deal with because you're dealing
with a lot of unknowns.  Who are the owners?  Why did they leave
the artifact?  What was their emotional state at the time?  When
did they leave it?"
     West said the Park Service is trying to find answers to these
questions so they can marry up backgrounds with items.  Donors who
would like to help can write to:
     Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection
     MARS
     PO Box 283
     Lanham, MD  20706.

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