Subject of Loss = Unpopular Film

On the last day in May, the original Memorial Day, an article appeared in the San Diego Tribune about the movie, Grace is Gone. The movie is about a family left to deal with the grief of losing a wife/mother/soldier to the Iraq War. This movie never even opened in San Diego, and only played in seven (total!) theatres nationwide. Bad movie or unpopular subject? You decide - the film is available on DVD and features a profile of TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a program to assist families who've lost a loved one serving in the military).

One Dollar for Every Name on the Wall

The Sons and Daughters in Touch fundraiser, One Dollar for Every Name on the Wall,is in full swing! The campaign’s goal is to raise at least $1 for each of the more than 58,000 names on The Wall to support SDIT and the building of the Vietnam Veterans Education Memorial Center. Sons and Daughters in Touch (SDIT), a national organization of Americans who lost their fathers in the Vietnam War, is teaming up with nationally syndicated radio host Rusty Humphries to raise more than $58,000 for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center, an educational facility being built by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The SDIT National Radiothon will air May 23, 24 and 26 during the nationally syndicated Rusty Humphries Show on Talk Radio Network. SDIT has pledged to raise $1 for every name on The Wall. Currently, there are 58,260 names.

Read more here.

National Moment of Remembrance

In 2000, Congress passed Public Law 106-579 and created the White House Commission on Remembrance. As the only active White House Commission established by law, this independent government agency's mission is to "encourage Americans to honor the sacrifices of America’s fallen and the families they left behind. It promotes acts of remembrance throughout the year and asks Americans to pay our debt of gratitude in memory of our fallen by giving something back to the Nation. The Commission is also tasked to unite the country in the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day.

The Commission is dedicated to educating this and future generations of Americans to remember the sacrifices and costs in human life made to preserve our liberties, and to instill in them an understanding of what it means to be an American. This Commission was inspired when schoolchildren who were asked what Memorial Day meant answered "it's the day that pools open!"

Turning Grief Into Art

Artist Tom Hubbard, whose father, Sgt. Thomas P. Kindt (USMC) was killed in Vietnam in 1966, creates wonderful ceramics and art installations from family photos and photos from Vietnam. Turning grief into art is a fantastic, grueling, cathartic activity. His exhibit, SEMPER FIDELIS: How I Met My Father, is a fine-art exhibition which incorporates after-action reports, photos, letters and journal entries. It is the result of Tom’s quest to know his father. Tom traveled across the US and Vietnam on his journey. “The loss of my father in Vietnam has shaped me as a person, a husband, a father and an artist,” Tom said.
SEMPER FIDELIS: How I Met My Father will be on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps from May 23 through July 7, 2008. The museum is in Quantico, VA – 36 miles south of Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.tomhub.com or www.usmcmuseum.com