WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Interior Museum will be commemorating the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with a new exhibition, entitled The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: America Responds, featuring photographs, drawings and models illustrating the creation of the memorial as well as personal objects left at the Wall by the general public.
The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, Nov. 9, 2007 and will be open for a special viewing from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday of Veterans Day weekend (Nov. 10, 11 and 12, 2007).
The exhibition will be open to the public through May 31, 2008, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays and Christmas Eve), and during the third Saturday of each month from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The visitor entrance to the Main Interior Building is at 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. Admission is free; however, each adult must have photo identification.
The museum exhibition and other events are leading up to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Wall on Nov. 13. Although controversy swirled around the monument in 1982, today more than 3 million visitors a year come to pay their respects to those who gave their lives for their country in Vietnam. Each day offerings are left to the fallen and each day these personal and special objects are collected as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection and cared for by the National Park Service. For example, one of the larger items in the exhibit is a motorcycle made by Wisconsin veterans in memory of 37 soldiers who remain unaccounted-for-POWs and MIAs. The motorcycle will not be ridden until the fate of the last Wisconsin soldier is known.
The Interior Museum worked with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the National Park Service to commemorate this anniversary. The exhibition illustrates the difficult process that was undertaken to create the memorial and showcases some of the 100,000 objects left by the public for loved ones lost to the Vietnam War.
For more information call 202-208-4984 or visit www.doi.gov/interiormuseum/.