The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund has been searching for photos of those who died in the Vietnam War, including those who once called Elkhart home and are still in need of help.

“Remembering who we lost and educating everyone about the Vietnam War is important,” said David Hine, an advocate for the Fund’s National Call for Photos. “Eventually some photos and items will be gone because they have been lost or thrown away, and we don’t want to think that that has happened but it very well could.”

Breaking ground in November for an education center in Washington, D.C. that will teach people about the war and keep the memories of the fallen alive, the VVMF would like to put a face to every name it has, including TSgt. James N. Galey, an Elkhart man who became a casualty at age 51, making him the oldest Hoosier killed in the war.

The National Call for Photos began in September 2009. Organizers urge people to look through old family photos and get involved in the effort to remember those that died.

“One of the things they want to do is, on the birthday of whoever was killed, they want to display a photo in the education center of the people who were killed,” Hine said. “They would also be on the individual web page. People could type in their loved one’s name and there is a web page for every person.”

What started as Life magazine’s “The Faces of the American Dead in Vietnam: One Week’s Toll” — available online at life.time.com/history/faces-of-the-american-dead-in-vietnam-one-weeks-toll/#ixzz1qbVLSUIy — has now become a fight for the VVMF to obtain photos of the veterans Life couldn’t find.

Those wishing to submit photos can do so by visiting www.vvmf.org/photos.

Hine said that reading the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one thing, but photos bring the vets to life.

“It comes down to one of the standard phrases for any man or woman in a war that we do not want to forget them,” Hine said. “You can see the names on the Wall, which is great, but to get photos shows that they are just like you and me — a brother, sister, father that went out there to protect our freedoms.”