Bell Atlantic Brings 'Wall That Heals' to West Virginia

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Bell Atlantic Brings 'Wall That Heals' to West
Virginia

Replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Display in
Clarksburg May 13-16

May 7, 1999

Media
contact:

Paul Miller,
304-344-0017
Don Molter ,
304-623-6876

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. -- Bell Atlantic is a major sponsor in helping to
bring a replica of the famous Vietnam Veteran's Memorial to West
Virginia. The replica will be on display here May 13-16 at Veterans
Memorial Park.

Thanks to a grant from the Bell Atlantic Foundation, visitors to the park
will have an opportunity to view the dramatic, half-scale replica, as well as
a display of memorabilia left at the Wall in Washington. "The Wall
That Heals" can be viewed daily, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

A number of military, veterans and elected officials will participate in
opening ceremonies, slated to begin at noon, May 13.

"While the wall brings back mixed emotions for those of us who
lived through the Vietnam era, seeing it and discovering the names of
people you once knew etched in metal is a very moving experience -- one I
hope many West Virginians will have an opportunity to share," said
Dennis Bone, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic -- West Virginia.

The Wall That Heals, which has toured the nation for over two years, is
organized by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The fund is an
organization dedicated to preserving the vast legacy of the memorial and
to educating current and future generations about the enduring lessons of
the Vietnam War on American society.

National sponsors include the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.
(VFW) and Turner Network Television (TNT), which produces public
information spots for the tours.

In addition to the Bell Atlantic Foundation, local sponsors include: the
Bell Atlantic Veterans Advisory Board, Bell Atlantic - West Virginia
employees, and Local 2011 of the Communications Workers of America.
Media sponsors are WBOY-TV, Clarksburg Publishing Company and
Time Warner/CVI. The wall will appear in Clarksburg thanks to the
generous assistance of Clarksburg City Parks Department.

"The Wall helped us find a home in our hearts for those who served
in Vietnam," says Jan Scruggs, memorial founder and president of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. "Now we want to take the
souls enshrined on the Memorial back to the places they called home, to
exist among friends and family once more, in the comfort and peace of
familiar surroundings."

The half-scale replica -- exact in almost every detail -- also seeks to
acknowledge one of the unexpected gifts of the Wall in Washington, that it
transcends Vietnam to help the nation renew its relationship with veterans
of all wars. Measuring approximately 123 feet apiece, two
"wings" of the replica meet at an angle of 121 degrees and rise
to a height of five feet at their vertex.

The traveling memorial was constructed by a team of fine craftsmen from
Waukegan, Ill., under the supervision of Lake County Vetz, an
organization assisting homeless veterans. Each of the 58,214 names on
the Wall is laser-etched into panels of reflective black, powder-coated
aluminum supported by a structural aluminum frame.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects domestically
and internationally, with an emphasis on new technology applications in
education, health and
human services, the arts and humanities, and civic development in the
communities served by Bell Atlantic. For more information, visit
www.bellatlanticfoundation.com on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 43 million telephone access lines and nine
million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are
premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.

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