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Items left at Vietnam Veterans Memorial now viewable in never-before-seen way

Posted at 4:35 PM, Aug 06, 2015
and last updated 2015-08-06 16:35:44-04

THE INTERNET– Starting Thursday, August 6th, the items left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will become available for viewing through a virtual “collection.”

FOX 17 and all 42 stations nationwide owned by Tribune Media have made a commitment to giving a greater voice to our neighbors, friends, and family members who served in Vietnam.

Most people know about the Wall–The Vietnam Veterans Memorial–in Washington, D.C.  But starting Thursday, you can experience a rarely-seen aspect of it in a way never done before.

Many who visit the Wall leave tokens of their loved ones lost in battle–objects the soldier wore or kept with them. Others leave things they’ve created to honor the fallen–letters, roses, even photographs. Those items are collected by the National Park Service and stored inside a building in a remote location.

For now, those items aren’t in a location the public can view in person, but The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is working on that for the future.

Just some of the items included in the collection: a motorcycle created to honor fallen brethren; reproduced dog tags; a helicopter blade that’s part of the helicopter one man crashed in; even a returned, unopened care package with the letters ‘KIA’ on it–‘Killed In Action.’

You can see the remarkable items here. You can also donate there to help fund preservation of those items as well as other projects.