Photo courtesy of Alabama Veterans Memorial Foundation.
Officers carry the state and national flag during a ceremony at the Alabama Veterans Memorial in Liberty Park.
About a week before Memorial Day, a ceremony honoring Alabamians and other Americans who paid the ultimate sacrifice defending their country will take place at Alabama Veterans Memorial Park near Liberty Park.
Every year, the park hosts events around Memorial Day in May and Veterans Day in November. While the Memorial Day event is usually the Sunday before the holiday, volunteers asked the ceremony be moved back a week to May 19, said Della Fancher, the founder and current board member of the Alabama Veterans Memorial Foundation.
The 21-acre park includes a Hall of Honor, which recognizes the more than 11,000 Alabamians who have died in the 20th and 21st centuries, Fancher said.
Along with the Hall of Honor, the park includes columns created by Alabama artists, a tribute honoring veterans, as well as the American Flag Plaza with a Veterans StepStone Courtyard, the site of this year’s ceremony.
StepStones are individual bricks that honor those who have served. While the Hall of Honor is reserved for Alabamians, anyone can be honored with a StepStone, including those currently serving, Fancher said. The bricks cost $100, with proceeds going to the foundation for upkeep of the park.
At the May 19 ceremony, people will dedicate StepStones and will speak about their loved ones, Fancher said. “It’s a very moving event.”
Golf carts will be available for older veterans to ride, and they’ll be able to visit other parts of the park as well, Fancher said. A nearby nursing home will also provide a van for transport, and the foundation’s parking lot will be reserved for the disabled.
