Turned up Photo Connects Milwaukee Family to Their Fallen Vietnam Vet

A photograph of a Milwaukee man who died during the Vietnam War 45 years ago sparked a search by a group of UW-Milwaukee students. The students were working with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, or VVMF, to put a face to every name inscribed on the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC. The non-profit vet group started this campaign more than three years ago.

One of the students recently uncovered a North Division High School year book photo of Private Willie Bedford. The Milwaukee marine drowned in Vietnam in 1970.

This discovery brings the total of Wisconsin photographs to 1,161, the exact number of veterans from the Badger state killed in southeast Asia during the conflict.

In all, nationally, 41, 000 photos have been collected. 18,000 are still being searched. All the photos will be featured in the VVMF's \"Virtual Wall of Faces\" and the upcoming education center by the Wall.