A Do-It-Ourselves Anniversary Site

As I observed last week, the Defense Department just this month decided to start developing a Web site to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, which is this year.

Since Defense just began the contract process three months into the anniversary year, me thinks the year could end before it's launched.

Rather than complaining (as I last week) that this lackadaisical approach typifies treatment of Vietnam Veterans I have seen since returning home from service with the Marine Corps in the I Corps in 1966, I have a modest suggestion: Let's launch a companion site or maybe a Facebook page. (By the way, Defense was not this laggard in commemorating the 50th anniversary of World War II in 1995, with many celebration plans in the works.)

I don't think this will be hard, take too long and a do-it-ourselves effort could result in a site that resonates with vets as well as the rest of the country.

All we need is someone to host the site, a good Web designer and folks to tell the story in multiple ways, including photos, narratives, poetry, music and art. There are literally thousands of unit histories on the Web, and I envision this Web site as the ultimate index to those histories.

I'm interested in your comments on thus suggestion, and if you're serious about putting the commemoration into the hands of vets, e-mail me at bbrewin@nextgov.com