A Pentagon Channel crew member tapes South Scotland Elementary student Tyler Byrd as he reads a letter sent to him by a Vietnam veteran.
The documentary, entitled, Recon: Wall Stories, can now be seen online at www.pentagonchannel.mil.
The video is 27-minutes long, with the last 10 minutes of the film focusing on the South Scotland students.
"I went down there (to the memorial) during Easter break, and there were all sorts of letters from South Scotland Elementary," Pentagon Channel producer Jim Schaeffer said. "It just sort of clicked. Here is a whole generation that wasn't even alive when Vietnam was going on and had no real personal feelings about the war the way people of that era did and still do."
The video details wall offerings, ranging from letters to guitars to motorcycles.
The fifth grade class at South Scotland began making the annual field trip to Washington in 1996 under now retired teacher Shirely Royals.
Six students were interviewed for the documentary, with corresponding interviews by teachers as well.
The students covered the Vietnam War in Ryan Curley's social studies class.
The students said that seeing the wall and leaving mementos made an impact on them.
"I was amazed because I didn't know that that many people had fought and died in the war," South Scotland student Caroline Bounds said in the video.
Other students were also amazed by the experience.
"You should all go there once in a lifetime," student Taylor Locklear said. "You need to see like what we saw."
The students also visited Mount Vernon, the Capitol Building, the White House and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
One student, Tyler Byrd, even received a letter back from a Vietnam veteran. Tyler said that the letter was really special to him because his father is fighting in Iraq.
Nine men from Laurinburg are listed on the wall.
"I think it's wonderful because they are doing a documentary for soldiers to show that people do recognize what they do," Curley said. "Ultimately, no matter how you feel about any war, they are Americans doing their job so you have to support them."
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was established Nov. 13, 1982. The wall was built to honor U.S. service members who fought, died or went missing during the Vietnam War.
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