The National Veterans Art Museum

When visitors first enter the museum, they will hear a sound like wind chimes coming from above them and their attention will be drawn upward 24 feet to the ceiling of the two-story high atrium.

 


Dog tags of the more than 58,000 service men and women who died in the Vietnam War hang from the ceiling of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago on Veterans Day, November 11, 2010. The 10-by-40-foot sculpture, entitled Above & Beyond, was designed by Ned Broderick and Richard Steinbock.


The tens of thousands of metal dog tags are suspended 24 feet in the air, 1 inch apart, from fine lines that allow them to move and chime with shifting air currents. Museum employees using a kiosk and laser pointer help visitors locate the exact dog tag with the imprinted name of their lost friend or relative.

 

Since 2003, the museum has broadened its mission to include art by veterans of all wars. In 2010, we dropped the word Vietnam from the name to become the National Veterans Art Museum (NVAM).  Today, the NVAM is still located in Chicago's South Loop and houses more than 2,500 works of art, including paintings, photography, sculpture, poetry and music. All the works in the Museum's permanent collection were created by more than 255 artists who are veterans of American conflicts.

 

The artwork presented at the museum provides a unique viewpoint on the controversial subject of war to all visitors. It is a tenuous and reflective balance of beauty and horror, giving unique insight into the psyche of combat veterans and consequential hindsight war leaves on its survivors.

Hicksville Vietnam War Era Memorial

The current List of Names now totals 1,800.  Missing information for names already on the list continues to be added thanks to the continued efforts by the many readers of HixNews.  In our efforts to insure that no one is left behind who should be included in the Memorial, please continue to help us by reviewing the List of Names when you select the "click here" link near the bottom of this update with your computer mouse.  To speed the process, just use your class year or the years you may be familiar with as a reference and see if you have a new name or some missing data to email to us.  Class years, where known, are specifically shown to make this effort easier for our readers.  All missing data for names already on the list is shown in red, again making it easier for readers to see what's needed.

In addition, please go to the website link shown in our Home Page note to see a List of UNCONFIRMED Names for the Memorial and see if you can help us by establishing whether or not these folks served during the Vietnam Era (see below for dates).

So far, Bill Walden's letter to the Hicksville Superintendant of Schools, to start the approval process to erect the Memorial at a specific location within the current Jerusalem Avenue (Middle) School Memorial Gardens or at HHS, has gone unanswered.  The Middle School had been the high school when the garden was established there and has continued to be the site for all military memorials established to honor Hicksville residents who served during the various wars fought by our country since WW1.  With the Holidays behind us, Bill is now following up his letter to obtain a response from the school superintendant on our site request.  He has also prepared publicity articles for release to the local and county press for an external publicity push (outside of HixNews) and will decide on the timing of this release in the coming month.

Ken Strafer is trying to organize a local team in Washington to research our List of UNCONFIRMED            Names at the Federal Archives.  Ken is also in the process of reviewing clay models for the bas relief portraits of a male and female soldier that will adjoin the Center Plaque on either side, as shown in the photo on this month's Home Page of HixNews

Memorial Qualifications:  A person must have been on active duty in one of our Armed Forces during the Vietnam Era.  The person did not necessarily have to serve in Vietnam, because by being in service at that time he or she faced the possibility of being sent to Vietnam and was an integral part of strengthening our Armed Forces during a time of war.

Overall qualifications include:

  • must have been a resident of Hicksville at some time before entering our Armed Forces
  • must have attended a public, private or parochial high school while living in Hicksville (attendance at HHS not required)
  • must have served on active duty anywhere in the world during America's Vietnam Era (February,1961 through April,1975)
  • Both men and women qualify (We're stating this since, while continuing to add a number of women, we still have relatively few on the current list overall)

Our Project Team consists of the following HHS Alumni and Vietnam War Era Veterans:

·        Ken Strafer, Founder (HHS '62)

·        Joe Carfora, Project Coordinator & Master List (HHS '62)

·        Carl Probst, Input Data, Class of '59 & Others (HHS '59)

·        Tony Plonski, Input Data, Class of '64 & Others (HHS '64)

·        Tommy Sullivan, Press Release Editing (HHS '63)

·        Walter Schmidt, Town of Oyster Bay Veterans Services Officer (HHS '65)

·        Joe Ingino, Veterans Advocate, Hicksville & Long Island (HHS '67)

·        Jay Tranchina, Input Data, Class of '64 & Others, plus local press contact (HHS 1964)

·        Bill Walden, Cmdr of Hicksville VFW Post, Site Selection/Approval & Fundraising Leader (HHS '65)                                                    

Here's what we continue to need from each person reading this to do:

Please click on the following link to review the current list of names:   Click here.

If you know of someone who is not listed, or if you have information we are still missing, please send what you have to Joe Carfora at jcarfora1@nc.rr.com.  Please use the information contained on the current list as a guide for the data we need.

Thank you!

The Vietnam War Era Memorial Project Team

Footnote extracted from www.vietnamwar.com:  During 15 years of military involvement, over 2 million Americans served in Vietnam with 500,000 seeing actual combat. 47,244 were killed in action, including 8000 airmen. There were 10,446 non-combat deaths. 153,329 were seriously wounded, including 10,000 amputees. Over 2400 American POWs/MIAs were unaccounted for as of 1973.

To access a huge list of veteran related websites that offer assistance, visit http://buffalobobcasale.com