Footnote.com and the National Archives Launch an Interactive Vietnam War Memorial

Footnote.com’s innovative social web site lets visitors pay tribute to Vietnam War heroes from their PC.

Footnote.com and the National Archives and Records Administration held a press conference on March 26 at the Archives in Washington, DC, to announce the release of an online interactive photo of the Vietnam War Memorial. In addition to releasing this unique version of the Wall, Footnote.com enables visitors to search the Wall for people they know and pay tribute by adding photos, comments and stories of those who lost their lives during the Vietnam conflict.

Footnote.com started the project by contracting the expertise of Peter Krogh, a National Geographic photographer, who was given the challenge to photograph the entire wall. Creating this online version of the Wall required almost 1,500 individual photos that were stitched together to create one single image. The process took over five months and resulted in an image that is nearly five gigapixels in size. Despite the immense size, just about anyone can view the image on Footnote.com via an Internet connection.

Footnote.com partnered with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to link the service records and casualty reports to each name on the Wall. “The records of the Vietnam War in the National Archives are essential resources for veterans to revisit their history and establish their rights,” explains Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein. “These extensive files are mined by scholars every day as they continue to interpret and understand this pivotal period in American history.” Footnote.com will also be digitizing National Archives photos from the Vietnam War.

Finding someone on the Wall is as simple as typing a name into a search box and letting Footnote.com quickly locate and zoom into the area of the Wall where the individual name can be viewed. Once the name is located, visitors can see the soldier’s service record and view comments, stories and photos that have been contributed by other visitors.
 

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