People point to names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day, ... more >WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, Jill Biden and military families will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday for a new education center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Military leaders and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar were expected to join in the ceremony for the $85 million Education Center at the Wall. It will tell the stories of 58,000 soldiers who died in the Vietnam War and will honor fallen soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The group that built the Vietnam War memorial has told The Associated Press that it is expanding the scope of the planned education center to include more recent service members.
The underground museum will include some items left at the Vietnam memorial. Organizers still must raise $38 million for construction.
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
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