A memorial honoring the 301 Virginians who fought in GWOT who have died since 9/11 is currently on display at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Va. — but it needs a new home.
"We are looking for a proper home for the Wall of Honor," said Clay Mountcastle, director of the Virginia War Memorial. "That is an exhibit that shows the names and faces and dates of death for Virginians that have died since roughly the 9/11 attacks — although the first names listed died in the attack on the USS Cole in 2000."
The Virginia War Memorial is one of the only state memorials that offers educational programming and outreach.
"We've been around since 1956," Mountcastle said. "The Virginia War Memorial was first dedicated as just a structure at the time with the names of the Virginians who had died in WWII and Korea. Since then it has grown to include the names of Virginians that have died in all the wars from the 20th Century and beyond. We've also opened the education center and we're in the process of opening a further expansion which will make our entire facility 50,000 square feet of program space, lecture halls, and exhibits."
This is an exciting expansion for the Virginia War Memorial — but the expansion is also the reason the Wall of Honor needs to be moved.
The 64-foot Wall of Honor was moved to the Virginia War Memorial temporarily in 2007. The current Virginia War Memorial did not include Virginians killed in the Global War on Terror after 9/11 — so the Wall of Honor completed the memorial by recognizing those men and women. However, the new expansion is also adding those same names to the permanent structure — and the expansion is almost complete.
"This new structure is going to be completed in the next three months, so we are no longer going to display the Wall of Honor here because those names will move up to our outdoor shrine and be honored in the same way that every other Virginian from WWII and beyond has been honored for decades," Mountcastle said.
But in its time at the Virginia War Memorial, the Wall of Honor has had a significant impact on visitors.
"It's a very moving display," Mountcastle said. "Many of our visitors that have come to see it spend hours looking at the faces, learning the names, and just getting a feel for the real impact that the Global War on Terror has had on the state of Virginia."
And Mountcastle wants the memorial's next home to have the same impact.
"The last thing we want to do is just leave it in storage so nobody can see it. We believe these 301 Virginians should have their names known. We're looking for a location — preferably one that's open to the public so as many people can see the display as possible," Mountcastle added. "It's been such a moving display for us here. It was actually a hard decision for us to take it down because a lot of the family members of those servicemen and women listed on the wall have become very fond of being able to visit, see their face, see their name."
The Virginia War Memorial is willing to transport and set-up the memorial wherever it finds a new, suitable place to be displayed.
"We just want to find it a good home."