Crowell & Moring LLP - Funded School Dedicated in Ha Tinh, Vietnam

Washington, D.C. – December 6, 2002: Two years ago, Crowell & Moring was introduced to the Vietnam Children's Fund (VCF) by our client Terry Anderson, who is VCF's co-chair. Terry is a former Marine who served in Vietnam and who later became a journalist and suffered for seven years as a hostage in Lebanon.

In 1993, Terry teamed up with another former Marine and Vietnam veteran, the late Lewis Puller (author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book "Fortunate Son"), to form VCF. The mission of VCF is to remember the countless families and children lost in the Vietnam war by creating a living memorial - a network of elementary schools throughout Vietnam.

Crowell & Moring, which has its own Vietnam war veterans, as well as Vietnamese-born refugees from the war, embraced VCF's mission and decided to fund one of VCF's schools. We have learned from our librarian Bich-Ha Nguyen, who came to this country from Vietnam in 1975, that, for the Vietnamese people, an education is the most cherished possession one can possibly have.

The location we selected for our school was Ha Tinh - a village just north of the old North/South Vietnam border. Construction took less than a year and was completed early this fall. Then, just before Thanksgiving, the Crowell & Moring/VCF school in Ha Tinh was dedicated with much local fanfare. Pictures of dedication and of the wonderfully attractive children attending the school are attached.

We at Crowell & Moring are proud of and gratified by our association with VCF and by the fact that we have been able to make a contribution to the living memorial for all those who so unfortunately were lost in in Vietnam.