Courtesy photo
Carl R. Crone is the third man from the left, wearing a white T-shirt.

UPDATE: A relative of Carl R. Crone has been located and his picture will be sent to Janna Hoehn for the memorial.

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A trip from Maui, Hawaii to Washington, D.C. changed Janna Hoehn life.

Hoehn, a 25-year resident of Maui, was a high school student during Vietnam War. Visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to obtain a rubbing of one of the names was first on her list fir the trip, six years ago.

“I approached the Wall and choose a name… Gregory John Crossman… an MIA,” Hoehn said. “When I returned home I decided to research Gregory and try to find his family, in the event they were never able to go to the Wall, I would send them the etching, hoping they would share a photo with me of Gregory.”

Hoehn did not know Crossman or any of the others names listed on the memorial.

Off and on for 6 months she researched every way possible and never found any family.

“I was quite disappointed however I had one more possibility, my cousin, our family historian” Hoehn said. “Six weeks later she found a college photo of Gregory.”

Two years passed when Hoehn saw a news story about the “Faces Never Forgotten” for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The goal, to put a face with every name etched on the Wall.

“I immediately sent in the photo I had of Gregory Crossman,” Hoehn said. “Five days later I received an email from Jan Scruggs, the founder and president of the Vietnam Wall. He thanked me for sending the photo. It was the first for this Hero and asked me if I could help him find the photos for the 42 Maui County Fallen that were killed in Vietnam.”

Once Hoehn, she moved onto the five names from her hometown Hemet, California.

“Once I had all the photos, I decided I did not want to keep this to myself,” Hoehn said. “I needed to share it with Maui County. I had a display made with all 42 photos, I take it all over Maui giving presentations to High Schools, Libraries and Civic groups. It has been very well received.”

Hoehn is also involved in in trying to locate photos of the Native American Soldiers which brought her to start searching for all the soldiers in Hawaii, California, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina, Alaska, Utah, Montana and now Texas.

“The response has been amazing,” Hoehn said. “I have collected nearly 1500 photos since May 2013. I am taking one state at a time.“

All pictures will be submitted to the “Wall of Faces” online memorial with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, as well as in the future Education Center that will be adjacent to the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC.

“Putting a face with a name changes the whole dynamic of the Wall, it keeps our Fallen Heroes memories alive and will honor them, our heroes stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Hoehn said. “If anyone is related, a friend or a classmate to any of the young men on the list I very much appreciate hearing from you. Even if you don’t have a photo but know which school any of these young men attended, it would be so helpful. We need to obtain a photo of every single Fallen Hero whose names are etched on The Wall, all 58,307 of them. To date we have collected over 42,000 photos. “

Hoehn is also looking for an individual that would like to volunteer to be her “boots on the ground” in the community if she does not find all the photos.

The last face Hoehn needs to complete the list for Orange County, Texas is Carl R. Crone, 1947-1968.

“I do not wish for anyone to feel badly that their loved one or friend is not listed or forgotten,” Hoehn said. “We will never forget any of them.”

One may visit the “Wall of Faces” online at http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/

If one has a picture of Carl R. Crone, please submit photographs and information to Janna Hoehn at neverforgotten2014@gmail.com

For more information about the Education Center or make a donation to help build the Center visit www.vvmf.org/thewall