Vietnam War Memorial Gets The Online Treatment

Social networking sites have a very “double edged sword” aura about them. On one hand, you can find some pretty decent sites with a very well established, and mature community. Sites like Facebook and Myspace are so littered with spam, porn bots, and whining teenagers, it makes the whole experience mind numbing, and frustrating.

I’m glad to say that so far Footnote.com’s new ambitious social networking project is so far one of the worth while community sites. If you’re a history buff, then you could lost forever in Footnote’s document oriented site. People all around the world can post pictures of historical documents, and add the history behind the documents. The bummer of the deal is that to get involved in those activities on the site, you have to pay a monthly fee.

Footnote’s new Vietnam War memorial project is free of charge though. Footnote has teamed up with the National Archives and Records Administration to bring a virtual version of the Vietnam War memorial to its’ site. Visitors will find the entire memorial represented, and every name can be viewed. While this feat is grand enough on its’ own, you can also learn a bit of history from the virtual memorial tour.

Every name that is on the virtual wall is clickable. Once you click on a name the history of the person is revealed. Their rank, specialties, and decorations, are all available. The information is submitted by people who served with them, along with family members and friends. With the abilities the site gives, we will all be able to appreciate the sacrifices given by the vets on a more personal level.

Here is one particular name that I found amazing, and a definite unsung hero.

Lewis Albanese-
Date of Birth: 04-27-1946
Tour Start Date: 08-02-1966
Death Date: 12-01-1966
Casualty Location: Phu Huu 2, Kim Son Valley
Major Command: 1st Cav Div
Company: B Co
Battalion: 5th Bn
War Decorations: Medal Of Honor

Along with these stats, a user posted a comment of how Albanese received his Medal of Honor.

Here is the excerpt:

Medal of Honor Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Albanese’s platoon, while advancing through densely covered terrain to establish a blocking position, received intense automatic weapons fire from close range. As other members maneuvered to assault the enemy position, Pfc. Albanese was ordered to provide security for the left flank of the platoon. Suddenly, the left flank received fire from enemy located in a well-concealed ditch. Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades from this fire, Pfc. Albanese fixed his bayonet and moved aggressively into the ditch. His action silenced the sniper fire, enabling the platoon to resume movement toward the main enemy position. As the platoon continued to advance, the sound of heavy firing emanated from the left flank from a pitched battle that ensued in the ditch which Pfc. Albanese had entered. The ditch was actually a well-organized complex of enemy defenses designed to bring devastating flanking fire on the forces attacking the main position. Pfc. Albanese, disregarding the danger to himself, advanced 100 meters along the trench and killed 6 of the snipers, who were armed with automatic weapons. Having exhausted his ammunition, Pfc. Albanese was mortally wounded when he engaged and killed 2 more enemy soldiers in fierce hand-to-hand combat. His unparalleled actions saved the lives of many members of his platoon who otherwise would have fallen to the sniper fire from the ditch, and enabled his platoon to successfully advance against an enemy force of overwhelming numerical superiority. Pfc. Albanese’s extraordinary heroism and supreme dedication to his comrades were commensurate with the finest traditions of the military service and remain a tribute to himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

To call Footnote’s project anything less than ambitious, and extraordinary would be a disservice. Let’s just hope the site admins keep a close eye on what people are posting, because as with all social networking sites, there will be people who come to crash the party. And the last thing Vietnam Vets need is some random internet user defiling one of the great American memorials.

To visit the Virtual Vietnam Memorial site, click here.