The Virginia War Memorial broke ground yesterday for an $8.1 million expansion named in honor of a Richmond couple for their service during the Vietnam War. "We have a duty to educate future generations about the sacrifices that were made by our Virginia heroes in order to protect our freedoms," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine told about 200 people, including veterans of combat, at the inaugural ceremony for the Paul and Phyllis Galanti Education Center.

"The Galanti Education Center will provide the memorial with the much-needed space to host educational events, veterans groups, and the many tourists and guests that visit the memorial each year," the governor said.

More than 20,000 people from 42 states and 19 countries visited the War Memorial in 2007, officials said, and its facilities have become overstretched.

The 18,000-square-foot expansion will triple the size of the memorial located above the James River on Richmond's South Belvidere Street.

A combination of $6.05 million in state funds and $2.05 million in private donations will pay for the education center.

"We could not find a better name to grace our new military education building than the Paul and Phyllis Galanti Education Center," said J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman of the board of Media General Inc. "May it do its job well for years to come."

Media General publishes the Richmond Times-Dispatch and is one of the donors to the center.

Designed by the Richmond architectural firm Glave & Holmes Associates, the center recognizes the Galantis, who live in Richmond, for their service during the Vietnam War.

"It's just an incredible honor," Paul Galanti said. "It's something that's so needed."

Galanti flew nearly 100 missions as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. In June 1966, his jet was shot down over North Vietnam. He was a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton for 6 1/2 years.

Today, Galanti serves as chairman of the state's Board of Veterans Services and on the board of the Families of the Wounded Fund.

After her husband was shot down, Phyllis Galanti became chairwoman of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. She also was instrumental in orchestrating the Write Hanoi campaign, which demonstrated Americans' outrage over North Vietnam's treatment of POWs.

"It's all overwhelming," she said of being honored. At the same time, she said, "the cause is so noble, to educate people of all ages about the history" of Virginians' military service.

Work should begin on the center in February or March and be completed by the middle of 2010.

"America's veterans, especially those who have come under enemy fire, are true heroes who deserve not only our gratitude, but also our veneration," said Bryan, who served in the Marine Corps. "They did the job so that we and our progeny can enjoy our American freedoms."

However, Bryan said, school children today know little of their forebears' sacrifices.

A recent survey, he noted, showed that eighth-grade students in one school district thought that Americans and Germans fought together against the Russians in World War II.