New Site Honors American Soldiers Throughout History

There's a new way to learn about the millions of Americans who have served in the military, from current conflicts to all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

The free website, "The Honor Wall," relies on millions of national records and allows anyone to contribute content.

Larry Oakley got the nickname "Black Widow 4 Deuce" as he served in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. But he hadn't uttered that name until pulling boxes of memorabilia out from storage to share with NBC reporters -- and, now, the world.

He's uploading everything onto his personal page on The Honor Wall, Ancestry.com's new website dedicated to veterans.

Even more important to Oakley is the page dedicated to his father, a World War II veteran.

"A lot of these pictures, I never saw," Oakley said about the page. "He was a handsome guy wasn't he?"

The Honor Wall dedicates one page to every service member who has served -- from current conflicts all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

Visitors can search for veterans from the home page and contribute to existing profiles. Or, if one is missing, visitors can created their own.

Brock Bierman with Ancestry.com helped the develop the site.

"We wanted to honor veterans," Bierman said. "We wanted to give back something to them so they could tell their story."

The more than 20 million records stored inside the National Archives served as the foundation for information on The Honor Wall. The rest will come from personal memories uploaded by people like Larry Oakley.

The letters to home, photos and awards will forever document exactly what it was like for generations to come.

You can visit the site at www.Fold3.Com/wall

Before today, much of the information -- now being offered for free -- was available online only for a fee.

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