WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Etched with the more than 58,000 names of U.S. Servicemen killed in Vietnam, the solid piece of black, polished granite is known simply as the wall.

Four million visitors a year touch the memorial in Washington, or pass by it and now, more than 25 years after it was built, an effort is under way to do something more.

"We're building the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center to bring these names back to life," Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs said.

Jan Scruggs, like so many in the late 1960s ended up in the infantry in Vietnam.

After recovering from his wounds he set out in the 1970s to create a legacy.

No one liked the idea of a black granite wall, but it was eventually built.

Scruggs is now behind an effort to build a center to go with the wall to honor those who served in all of America's conflicts.

"It fills in the blanks because there is a lot of guys who served in Vietnam who also served in Korea and World War II and there are those who served in Vietnam who are still out there today," said retired Navy Rear Admiral George Worthington.

Not only will the center have the stories behind the names, but displays of poems, letters and medals that were left at the wall as tributes. But more than just looking back, said Scruggs, it will give meaning to what's going on today.

"When we have separated the war form the warrior, we found that has resonated and helped the people coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. People may not support the war but they support the warrior and that's the greatest lesson of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial," said Scruggs.