Military veterans killed in action or training honored with virtual wall at New England College

An empty pair of combat boots joined Allison Wyssenski and Thomas Betsy, Jr. on stage as they stood in front of an audience of veterans, community members and the families of soldiers.

One by one, the New England College seniors read off the names of military veterans from New Hampshire who died in action or training during Word War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Global War on Terror.

They had, by that point, committed 550 hours of work throughout the semester to building in a virtual wall of honor, presented at the college on April 24. As the students read over 640 names, they saw the light of recognition in audience members’ eyes and the tears that followed.

“It was definitely bittersweet,” Wyssenski said. “Obviously, it sucks to see people so upset, but it was great to see that so many people came out to see it and people were willing to talk, to open us up for it.”

The idea for the project was pitched to Wyssenski and Betsy by their instructor Frank Jones, a longtime criminal justice professor at New England College.

Military service hits close to home for Jones. Not only is he the director of veterans services for the college but many of his family members served in multiple branches of the military. When he saw his cousin’s name appear on the virtual wall, he said he got emotional.

“These are not just names on a headstone,” Jones said. “These were actual people. These were people that, at one time, enjoyed the state of New Hampshire, just like we all do, but then passed away in service to their country.”

New England College has served veterans since its establishment. Founded in 1946, the Henniker-based college welcomed soldiers returning home from World War II and offered them education and opportunity. To this day, Jones said he has had at least one person in his classes who served since he started teaching.

In 2025, the school was designated as a Purple Heart College for its “ongoing commitment to honoring and supporting America’s service members who have been wounded or killed in combat,” according to a statement.

Betsy said the pair started with simple searches for service members from New Hampshire who died in war but quickly realized the work wouldn’t be so straightforward. Some veterans had missing birthdays and photos, which they tried their best to locate, an endeavor that could take hours.

Some information was still left out in the final presentation, but Betsy said he hopes families will come forward to fill in the blanks — or to contribute names the students didn’t unearth during their research, so they can “have a full wall.”

“It was sad seeing just how many [names] there were,” Betsy said. “We thought maybe 300 names for all of it, and we surpassed that with World War II alone … It was sad to see how many names there were, but it was nice to [recognize] the people that maybe their family forgot, or maybe they’re remembered again with their photos up now forever.”

Jones said the president of the college, Wayne F. Lesperance, Jr., was so moved by the presentation that he declared it an annual event. Both Wyssenski and Betsy are graduating and going to law school, leaving Jones to think of ways to move the project forward.

“When we were first offered this project, I don’t think any of us really knew that this was going to be the final product,” Wyssenski said. “It was really nice to see how it came out and the turnout.”