Vietnam Memorial Project Needs Photos of Broomall and Newtown Square War Veterans

What if you could put a face to every name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) hopes you can.

The National Call for Photos is a project organized by the VVMF to match a headshot or portrait photograph to every service member listed on The Wall.

The pictures will be displayed in an exhibit at the future Education Center at The Wall, an underground visitors center to be built near the Vietnam Veterans and the Lincoln memorials. Every day, the center will celebrate the birthdays of service members who died during the Vietnam War by featuring their photos on a giant digital wall.

So far, 25,526 veterans have complete profiles with at least one photograph, according to George Pojani, a research associate at the VVMF. These profiles are currently featured on The Virtual Wall, an online database of the Memorial's veterans.

Three of Marple Newtown's fallen

Records show 139 people who enlisted in Delaware County died in the Vietnam War. They include Daniel John Jones Jr. of Broomall, Thomas Nickolas Mansor of Broomall, and Stephen M. Lashinsky Jr. of Newtown Square.

Lashinsky, a 23-year-old enlisted with the U.S. Army, died May 5, 1968, in south Vietnam, his profile shows. No picture of Lashinsky is posted but there are several messages of remembrance.

"I was in your high school class–Marple Newtown Sr. High School. I remember you as a tough but fun-loving guy. We got into it once but became friends afterward. Thanks for serving," read a message from high school classmate Don Morphesis.

Jones, a 21-year-old Marine, died July 11, 1969, also in south Vietnam, according to his profile. It includes several messages of thanks, but Jones is not pictured.

"I'll remember him as the best pole vaulter in our high school, playing touch football, sledding on a cold winter night and shooting pool in my basement...the innocent things in life that Dan so much enjoyed," read part of a message from Ken Baker, a friend of Jones.

Mansor, a 19-year-old Marine, died July 16, 1968, also in south Vietnam, according to his profile. It includes several messages of thanks as well as a photo of Mansor.

"The Marine was a 1967 graduate of Marple Newtown High school where he played varsity football. He also played in the local Babe Ruth baseball league.
Pfc. Mansor enlisted in December 1967, and was sent to Vietnam in June. In his last letter, dated July 9, he told his parents, 'I'm going to an area where no GI's have been,'" read part of a message written in the Philadelphia Inquirer and posted by a fellow Marine.

How to contribute

To locate photos for the project, contributors can visit www.vvmf.org/thewall and search for veterans who enlisted in their area. The VVMF recommends contacting family and friends of the veterans to find photographs or visit local libraries and search through yearbooks or newspaper obituaries.

To submit a photograph, contributors should obtain a high quality scan of the image and post a remembrance at http://www.vvmf.org/remembrances. The VVMF will send an email to contributors when their photograph is posted with a matching profile.

Relatives of service members with complete profiles are encouraged to submit photographs to the VVMF, even if there is already a photo available.

Pojani says that the contributors to the National Call for Photos will help improve the visitor's experience at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

"It's a place where people can go back and find stories about all the casualties on the Wall," Pojani said about the future Education Center. "It will be more personal than just names on the Wall."