Maj. General John Batiste Pledges Support for the Education Center at the Wall

Batiste to Join Leadership Team, Assist Grassroots Campaign

Washington, D.C. – Maj. Gen. John Batiste, USA (Ret.), president of Klein Steel Service in Rochester, N.Y., is the latest American dignitary to join the campaign to build The Education Center at The Wall, reported Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
 
The Center is an educational facility being built underground on the National Mall, near the Vietnam Veterans and Lincoln Memorials. The campaign to build the Center is being led by the Memorial Fund.
 
“Gen. Batiste brings a valuable perspective to our leadership team,” Scruggs noted. “Because of his more than 30-year career in the U.S. Army, he understands the values that are embodied by America’s service members—the very same values that will be emphasized in the Center. We look forward to his leadership in this important cause.”

Batiste was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1974. Over the next 31 years, he served in a variety of leadership and staff positions, including platoon, company, battalion, brigade and division command. His was deployed to Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Operations Desert Shield and Storm from August 1990 to April 1991, to Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Implementation Force mission from December 1995 to November 1996, and again to Kuwait and Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 from January 2004 to February 2005.
 
His final assignment in the Army was commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division from August 2002 to June 2005.
 
After retiring from the Army as a major general in November 2005, Batiste entered the private sector, becoming president of Klein Steel Service based in Rochester, N.Y. Klein Steel Service is a state-of-the-art metal distributor and processor with four locations in New York state.

Batiste is active with local and statewide veterans groups. He is the president of the Rochester Regional Veterans Business Council; a board member of the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester; and serves as a member of the New York State Veterans Affairs Commission.

As a member of the Education Center’s leadership team, Batiste will assist with grassroots efforts in the Rochester, N.Y. area.
 
The Education Center at The Wall is a visitors and education facility being built underground on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Exhibits will include a wall of photographs of those whose names are on The Wall, a selection of the over 100,000 items that have been left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a timeline of key military events in the Vietnam War. A section of the Center will illustrate the legacy of service demonstrated by the American people, showing images of those who served in all of America’s conflicts, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq.
 
The Education Center will be built entirely with private funds, including the lead gift of $10 million from Time Warner.
 
Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, through a series of outreach programs, it is dedicated to preserving the legacy of The Wall, promoting healing, educating about the impact of the Vietnam War and is building The Education Center at The Wall underground near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.