After more than two decades of effort, at least one photo has been found for each of the 58,281 service members whose names are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, according to a press release from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The effort was made possible by hundreds of volunteers, family members and the support of local news organizations.

For newspaper publisher Andrew Johnson — a driving force behind the Wall of Faces campaign — the search was personal. His son, David, was killed in January 2012 while on duty in Afghanistan.

Johnson, who served as publisher of the (Mayville) Dodge County Pionier, the Campbellsport News and the Kewaskum Statesman until 2020, heard about the VVMF’s effort in 2014 and mobilized newspapers across the state. A year later, the last missing photo of a Wisconsin veteran was found. He has been working with newspapers ever since to make sure there’s a face for every name on The Wall.

In 2016, his newspaper published a special section displaying all the Wisconsin Wall of Faces photos — the first publication of its kind — and brought awareness to other states where photos were still needed. He also enlisted newspaper associations across the country during his term as president of the National Newspaper Association in 2018-19.

“It was an honor to serve our great republic by honoring our Vietnam era heroes by finding their photos,” Johnson said in the release. “As I worked on the project, many Vietnam veterans embraced me and let me know how much they loved my son and would never forget him as they were often forgotten. In turn, I would always tell them, ‘Welcome home, you and your fallen military buddies will never be forgotten.’”

To view the Wall of Faces, visit: www.vvmf.org/wall-of-faces