National Mall officials have approved plans to build a two-story underground center that will serve as a “mecca” for soldiers returning from Afghanistan.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund hopes to break ground on the Education Center at The Wall in as little as six months. The organization has raised half of the $85 million needed to fund the project that will teach visitors about the Vietnam War and commemorate those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The mission has changed for us from commemoration to education,” VVMF Founder and President Jan Scruggs told The Washington Examiner.
Though the center will focus primarily on the Vietnam War, it will also honor soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Scruggs said they’re doing “everything we can” to open the doors when soldiers return.
“The Vietnam veterans never got their welcome home,” said Scruggs, who fought in the Vietnam War. “This is our chance to give these guys what we never got. This is a chance to give them the real parade and everything they deserve …
“All these Iraq guys and Afghanistan guys, they’re all going to go to this education center. It will be their mecca, as the Vietnam Memorial center is [Vietnam veterans’] mecca.”
Initial plans show a sidewalk sloping down to the entrance of the underground facility.
Inside, visitors will see an exhibit on the history of the American military, items left at the Wall, a timeline of the Vietnam era and a 60-by-100-foot digital wall scrolling through pictures of military casualties. By the time the center opens, the VVMF hopes to have a photograph of each of the 58,000 soldiers killed in Vietnam.
But Scruggs said the highlight of the experience will be a dog tag with the name of a military casualty given to each visitor. By accepting the dog tag, people agree to perform four hours of community service when they return home.
“So here’s this poor guy or woman who got themself killed in Afghanistan last week or Vietnam 40 years ago. So who’s going to remember them?” Scruggs said. “[This is] a great legacy to, sort of, bring these people back to life in a very poignant and profound way.”
