“All those who remember the war they won’t forget what they have seen. Destruction – of men in their prime Whose average age was 19”
Some of us may remember this song, it was a big hit in the 1980’s and it was about the Vietnam War.
Even more of us remember the war itself, the sacrifices and the victims.
To make sure that we never forget their names and what they did for us, in 1982 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. dedicated a monument that will keep their names forever present in our memories: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The memorial consists of 2 walls, each 246.75 feet long, composed of 70 separate inscribed granite panels, plus 4 at the end without names, of a flagpole and of a statue named „Three Servicemen“.
58.256 names are carved into the panels, among them 8 women.
From November 7th on, The Wall will not only be found in Washington D.C. but also in Second Life.
A dedicated group, Meme Science, around its founder Evian Argus has been working hard on recreating the memorial and bringing it into our virtual world.
This will give residents from all over the earth the chance to visit this ground, rich in history and memory.
"We have spent the last couple of months planning, and building a replica of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall, the 3 Soldiers Statue, the Vietnam Veteran’s Women’s Memorial, and the surrounding area." said Robert Egan, president of Meme Science. "We feel very good about the project thus far, the feedback has been excellent from friends, and from the people that have helped us with the build. We are about to welcome the Second Life residents in to spend some time at The Wall, and honor those Veteran’s that made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The whole planning and building process has been very important to all of us at Meme Science, and to those that have helped with the project. We knew from the start it was a very special project, and we feel grateful it came out as we had hoped it would."
Meme Science will open the Vietnam Veteran’s War Memorial Wall simulator to Second Life residents on November 7th 2007 at 4pm EST (1pm Second Life time) to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the dedication of ‘The Wall’ that took place in Washington DC in November 1982; with the Reading of the Names.
The Wall, the 3 Soldiers Statue, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, and the surrounding areas are complete. There are Directory stations at The Wall where one can look up a Vietnam Veteran’s name that was killed or missing and leave gifts (Rose Flower, American Flag), and also teleport to the exact panel where that name can be found on The Wall. There will be voice streaming in ‘The Reading of the Names’ of those killed or missing throughout the island. By clicking on the play music button you will hear the text to speech computer voice that will read all 58, 223 names starting on Nov. 7th, 2007. This Reading of the Names coincides with the real life Reading of the Names that will occur in Washington DC. The web site: http://www.TheWallSL.com will help support the project by video streaming in the live Colin Powell dedication on November 7th at 1pm EST that will be held in Washington DC. This video dedication will be rebroadcast at The Wall in Second Life within hours of the live broadcast so that residents can view the dedication video. The web site also highlights the partners that have helped create this build of The Wall, the statues, computer generated voice audio, Second Life video, and added features that were thought essential to the project’s overall success. TheWallSL.com web site will be posted in the New Resident Websites on the Second Life web site, and daily events will be held during the week by listing event times in the Community Events section of the Second Life web site. A video was created of The Wall project in its completed state, which can be seen on TheWallSL.com and throughout The Wall island. URL links for the video are available upon request.
Evian Argus and his team of Meme Science made the impossible a reality: When walking the sim you feel as if you were there. You can feel the cold autumn breeze in your face, the breeze, that makes the red leaves dance around you.
You feel the magic of this place when looking at the statues. Wasn’t there a movement? A twink of an eye perhaps? The Three Servicemen that came just out of the jungle, worn and weary, are looking at you, telling you their sad story. The small red rose and the star spangled banner next to somebody’s name on the wall, maybe a grandchild just left them there, in memory of a granddad he never knew?
58.223 names – how do you find the one you are looking for, the one you can now visit without having to travel through the whole country?
Argus and his team found a solution for that too: They put several search option boxes around the island. They are self explanatory, very easy to use and teleport you directly to the person’s name you wish to honour. Once you get to the panel where to find the name, a big white arrow points towards where to look.
Evian Argus explains that he was not the one with the idea to bring The Wall into Second Life. “A very famous person that happens to be a resident of Second Life approached us, and because he wants to stay annoymous the contract went through the Vietnam Veternas Memorial Fund. He sponsorded the project through the VVMF.org “, he states. Who might this famous resident be? Evian Argus keeps his silence.
People group in different corners of the sim. As one passes them by, bits and pieces of ther conversations can be overheard "…served with him, but I don’t know what happened to him…", "My aunt used to be a nurse in company xyz.-…", "…do you remember the day when…..".
This is what the sl Wall is going to be – a place to remember and to share memories.
On the official opening day, November 11th, all the names on the wall will be read, almost simultaniously to the RL ceremony held by Colin Powell.
So once again they come to live, the brave who did their last duty for their country.
Thanks to Evian Argus and his team, they will be alive and present in Second Life now too, never forgotten, always present.
this is just simply amazing. when the September 11th memorial came out in SL, i was stunned, and now this!!! it goes to say without a doubt that the residents of Second Life seem to amaze me more and more every day with some of the elaborate designs and ideas. i for one will be visiting The Wall.
I visited the sim early on and I have to say I was truly impressed with the tone. I went in with expectations this would be a flop but somehow the designers captured it in a whole new way. I would like to see it migrated to the Teen Grid so that school kids could access it. This is a GREAT example of how a Second Life project should be done. Kudos to meme science and whoever the famous, unknown resident might be.
