For many, the Vietnam War is from the distant past. Some 40 percent of the 4 million people who visit The Wall today are too young to remember. To them the long list of names cut in the smooth black granite are faceless; they have no context, no connection.

By telling the stories behind every name, the Education Center will help visitors understand the courage, sacrifice and devotion of those who fell, those who returned, and those who waited. While learning truths about the Vietnam War, visitors will also discover how the Memorial shaped the ways Americans mourn, and the vital part The Wall played in helping to heal the bitter divisions that tore at the nation’s heart and soul.
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Architects Polshek Partnership, LLP, and exhibit designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates Inc., were selected. Their combined portfolios include the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and the recently opened interactive Newseum. Polshek is also known for work on the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. Appelbaum also created the poignant exhibits for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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More than 58,000 names. More than granite heroes. In search of truth and understanding, the Education Center will reveal the human dimensions of the war as well as celebrate the service, sacrifice, loyalty, and love of those who served. The Center will enhance the experience of the entire National Mall, using storytelling to journey through layers of time, bringing history and echoes from The Wall to life.
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More than words, these are the legacy of every American soldier, sailor, marine, nurse, medic and chaplain lost in Vietnam. And these are the themes around which the Wall of Faces in the Center will be built, memorializing the values of those who served, those who fell, those who waited—and those who serve still today.
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Perhaps the most moving display planned for the Center is a showcase of some of the more than 100,000 poems, photos, letters, teddy bears, boots, dog tags and other personal effects placed at The Wall by a grateful nation. These touching and personal remembrances are a powerful tribute reminding generations to come of the heroic but human stories of love and sacrifice behind each life engraved on The Wall.
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The final exhibit will continue the themes of Duty, Loyalty, Courage, Respect, Honor, Service, and Integrity by highlighting those who form the larger national story on the Mall—all who answered the call of duty from the Revolutionary War up through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
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