Local veterans will gather in Kalispell on Sept. 27 to promote the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s project to collect photos of all those who died in the Vietnam War.

The event will take place at 11 a.m. at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce office adjoining Depot Park.

Jenn Rowell, the fund’s communications manager, will be in Kalispell to talk about the National Faces Never Forgotten initiative and the goal of collecting photos of the 58,282 service members inscribed on The Wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

So far, 25,000 pictures have been collected, including 112 of the 266 Montana military members who died in Vietnam.

The photos will be displayed at the Education Center at The Wall in Washington.

“The Education Center at The Wall will allow Americans to put faces with the names of brave men and women who lost their lives, fostering their appreciation and respect for generations to come,” said Jan Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

If you have a picture of a loved one or fellow veteran whose name is on The Wall, you may use either of the following methods to submit your photograph:

If you have a digital copy of the photograph, you can upload it to http://vvmf.org/submit_other.

Photos may also be mailed. Make a copy since photos cannot be returned. It should be of high quality with a glossy finish and reproduced at an 8-by-10-inch size, if possible.

Mail to: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Attn: Call for Photos, 2600 Virginia Ave., NW, Suite 104, Washington, D.C., 20037

For more information about how to add a photograph to the collection or to request a submission form, call 202-393-0090 or email [email protected].

Groundbreaking is planned in November for the 35,000-square-foot Education Center at The Wall.

 It will utilize state-of-the-art digital technology to connect future generations to the lasting impact, insights and individual heroes of the Vietnam War. For more information, visit www.buildthecenter.org.