Finder of faces

A dozen Kootenai County men were killed while serving in Vietnam.

Their names, birth dates and the dates they became casualties of war are etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

A virtual memorial also bears those names and dates. The Wall of Faces - a digital gallery found at www.vvmf.org - also includes photos of the men whose names grace the physical, national memorial commonly known as The Wall.

"Putting a face with a name changes the whole dynamic of The Wall," said Janna Hoehn, a Maui, Hawaii, resident and volunteer for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and its Faces Never Forgotten program. "It keeps these soldiers alive and will honor them. Our heroes' stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten."

But images of many of the men are missing.

Four of the Kootenai County residents who perished while fighting in Southeast Asia remain faceless on the virtual wall. They are: William D. Blenkinsop, born 1951, died 1970, from Coeur d'Alene; Franklin D. McNary, born 1934, died 1967, from Coeur d'Alene; Steven H. Nipp, born 1948, died 1969, from Post Falls; and Eugene E. Wolters, born 1951, died 1970, from Coeur d'Alene.

A soldier from Smelterville also has a photo missing: Richard L. Dennis, born 1929, died 1967.

Hoehn reached out to The Press Wednesday asking for help in tracking down the missing photos.

"If anyone is related, a friend or a classmate to any of the young men on the list, I would very much appreciate hearing from you," Hoehn wrote in her request.

She said just knowing where the soldier went to school would be helpful.

To date, volunteers have helped locate 37,000 of the roughly 58,000 photos needed.

Hoehn has helped find hundreds of those photos. She made it her mission a few years ago after visiting The Wall while in Washington, D.C.

"Even though I never knew anyone killed in Vietnam, I wanted an etching," Hoehn told The Press.

She approached The Wall, chose a name - Gregory John Cossman - and took her etching home. She decided to try to find Cossman's family to send them the etching, and hoped they would send her a photo of Cossman. She spent several months searching, but never found his family. With her cousin's help, she eventually located a copy of a college photo of Cossman. Two years later, she saw a local news story that included a call for photos for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Hoehn immediately sent along her photo of Cossman.

Jan Scruggs, the founder and president of the fund, then asked Hoehn if she would help find photos for 42 Maui County soldiers killed in Vietnam.

She accepted and completed that challenge, with help from the local newspaper. She then shifted her efforts to California, and since 2013, with the help of 50 newspapers and their readers, Hoehn has collected more than 700 photos.

"With your help it will be more," she wrote in a message meant for Press readers.

Photos or information about the soldiers can be submitted to Janna Hoehn by email: neverforgotten2014@gmail.com.

Hoehn is also looking for a local volunteer to do some footwork in the community to help find any of the photos, if that becomes necessary.

The Kootenai County men whose photos can already be viewed on the online memorial are: David E. Cinosky, Leroy E. Damiano, Thomas G. Funke, Robert J. Gordon, Howard L. Jones, Jr., Steven M. McArthur, Howard B. Waldron, and Russell L. Watson.