WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and military families will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new education center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.

Military leaders and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar were expected to join the groundbreaking today for the $85 million Education Center at The Wall. It will tell the stories of 58,000 soldiers who died in the Vietnam War and will honor fallen soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The group that built the Vietnam war memorial has said that it is expanding the scope of the planned education center to include more recent service members.

The underground museum will include some items left at the Vietnam memorial. Organizers still must raise $38 million for construction.