Fallen Heroes Memorial

The USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park is home to the Fallen Heroes Memorial paying tribute to all the Alabamians who have given their lives in service since 9/11.

The USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park is home to the Fallen Heroes Memorial paying tribute to all the Alabamians who have given their lives in service since 9/11.
During the dedication ceremony held in 2015, hundreds showed up to view the new memorial which contains 146 names of Alabama troops who lost their lives in the war on terror.

A 2011 Press Register article recounts how former U.S. Marine Nathan Cox knows first-hand about fallen heroes — he lost his best friend in Afghanistan and witnessed another buddy killed in action in Iraq.

The article goes on to explain that Cox spearheaded efforts to raise the money to build the Fallen Heroes Memorial and place it at the USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile. The project was started to honor the military personnel who lost their lives in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001.

Local artist Casey Downing took almost a year to complete the bronze sculpture depicting the ceremony conducted in combat zones that marks the death of a soldier. The memorial stands 20 feet tall and 8 feet wide with a six-sided granite base honoring each of the U.S. service organizations – Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard – with the sixth side listing the names of the those who have died.

The sculpture is a soldier’s boots with a rifle positioned between them. Dog tags hang from the rifle and a helmet rest atop it.

Cox, who was deployed to Iraq with 3rd Battalion 6th Marines as a rifle platoon commander in 2005 and 2006, said in the article that at the time of a soldier’s death, each platoon member had a moment to kneel at the makeshift battlefield memorial and say goodbye to their friend.

“When you’re out in the combat zone, and can hear bombs or rifle fire, a lot of tears are shed,” he said. “Anytime I see it, I get choked up.”