Washington, D.C., Nov. 11, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For Immediate Release
TV Worldwide, selected to produce a fundraising Veterans Day Telethon simulcast via satellite and the web to benefit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s new multi-media Education Center at The Wall, announced that the event is attracting national attention as producers prepare for today’s transmission. The Telethon will begin at 10 AM ET, today, November 11, 2011 and will be featured on VVMF TV, the new Internet TV Channel that TV Worldwide has developed with VVMF for launch during the Telethon, at www.VVMF.TV. TV Worldwide will also feature the webcast on its Internet TV channel for the community of America’s veterans, USVets TV (www.USVets.TV) as it has for every year since 2002. Media outlets from across the country have featured coverage on the Telethon webcast, leading up to today’s event.
The 11/11/11 Veterans Day Telethon event webcast will feature appearances by well-known national media journalists and guests to include Bob Schieffer of CBS News, Bob Woodruff of ABC News, Kelly Wright of the Fox News Channel, former U.S. Senator Chuck Robb, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, General George W. Casey, Jr., Entertainer Pat Boone, Former Vietnam POW Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Tex), and syndicated radio host Rusty Humphries, whose father died in Vietnam. The Telethon webcast will also include live coverage of the Veterans Day Ceremony at The Wall to begin at 1 PM ET, where more than 3,000 Vietnam veterans and supporters are expected to attend. Vietnam veterans, their relatives and the public will be participating worldwide as each hour covers a different theme from the Vietnam War. The featured interviews and content will be both moving and educational, just as The Education Center at the Wall, itself, will be.
"After visiting an amputee ward I wrote ‘…these kids are going home from Vietnam not as God made them but as war left them’," recalled Bob Schieffer of CBS News. "‘Their arms and legs will never grow back.’"
"In a speech at the wall I said that the Wall marked a turning point in how the American people viewed the Vietnam War and how they viewed the military," stated General George Casey, Jr. former Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. "Today Americans reach out and respect the military in a way they never did with returning Vietnam Vets."
Former Vietnam POW, Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Tex) related that, after his plane was shot down and he was captured, a North Vietnamese tribunal sentenced him to death.
"I was blindfolded and led into the jungle," recounted Johnson. "When they took the blindfold off, I was facing five guys with AK-47 rifles and an officer standing with them. I was standing in front of a trench. I had gone to church every Sunday, my mother made me, but I didn’t know the Lord until that moment. I prayed harder than I ever prayed, asked God for help. And when the guy said ‘Fire’ the guns went ‘click, click, click, click, click’."Johnson then began 7 years as a POW.
"As we head into the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 2012, we are excited about the launch of VVMF TV with this special Veterans Day Telethon webcast to help support our goal to build The Education Center at The Wall," said Jan C. Scruggs, Founder and President of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. "We appreciate the growing interest from media organizations nationally to help get the word out."
"We are pleased to again work with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to launch the VVMF-TV Internet TV Channel, with this important national Veterans Day Telethon fund-raising webcast to support The Education Center at The Wall," said Dave Gardy, Chairman and CEO of TV Worldwide. "Our goal during the programming for the Telethon webcast is to offer a unique historical perspective on The Wall and honor those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice, with some of the stories behind those 58,272 names. We’re provisioning our servers for the on line participants and appreciate the support of our technology partners, Limelight Networks and QTS."
The Veterans Day Telethon webcast at the Wall, caps off VVMF TV coverage of a series of events around the country that began in October at Times Square in New York City, where HISTORY, joined the VVMF’s Call for Photos, a nationwide campaign to collect a photograph for each of the 58,272 men and women whose names are inscribed on The Wall. More than 35,000 photos are still needed to complete the display, which will be exhibited at The Education Center at the Wall.
People around the world can participate online during the Veterans Day Telethon Webcast, accessible through www.vvmf.TV, www.USVets.tv and www.TVWorldwide.com where it will also be archived after the event for a full year. In addition, the simulcast will be available to broadcast media outlets via satellite at transponder coordinates listed below.
SES-1 @ 101 degrees WL
Transponder K 01/ Slot A
DL: 11733.500 MHz Vertical
SR: 3.978723 MS
DR: 5.500 MB
FEC: 3/4
BW: 6.0 MHz
About the Education Center
The Education Center at The Wall is a place on our National Mall where our military heroes' stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten. With a groundbreaking planned for November 2012, the Education Center at The Wall is a multi-million dollar, state-of- the-art visitor’s center and learning facility to be built on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans and the Lincoln Memorials. Visitors will better understand the profound impact the Vietnam War had their friends and family members, their home towns, and the Nation. The Education Center will feature the faces and stories of the 58,272 men and women on "The Wall," honoring those who fell in Vietnam, those who fought and returned, as well as the friends and families of all who served. For more information, visit www.buildthecenter.org.
About VVMF
Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., promoting healing and educating about the impact of the Vietnam War.
Support the Education Center at The Wall by visiting www.buildthecenter.org, calling 866-990-WALL, or by texting "WALL" to 2022.
About TV Worldwide
Founded in 1999, TV Worldwide (www.tvworldwide.com) developed the first Internet TV network of community-based Internet TV channels, primarily targeting niche professional communities ranging from the Maritime industry to the Digital Media sector. Known by many in the industry as "Intelligent Internet TV," Fortune 500 companies, 30 federal government agencies, and numerous International associations including the National Association of Broadcasters utilize TV Worldwide's live and archived state-of-the art video streaming content applications and Internet TV channels. In recognition of the company's unique achievements in new media, TV Worldwide was selected by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) to webcast the Daytime Emmy Awards and the Emmy awards for Technology and Engineering 2007 through 2009. CEO Dave Gardy has been honored by Streaming Media Magazine in 2008 as one of the 25 Most Influential People in Streaming Media. Gardy also currently serves as the President of the International Webcasting Association (IWA) and as a member of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Corporate Council.
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