A memorial honoring the 7,063 U.S. service members killed in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) was on display at the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday for Veterans Day.
The Fallen Heroes Memorial is sponsored by Veterans and Athletes United and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The Fallen Heroes Memorial is a mobile display and is at the Lincoln Memorial from 6 a.m. until 6:30 p.m on Thursday.
According to Veterans and Athletes United, the memorial is approximately 28 feet wide and six feet tall and the more than 7,000 dog tags are arrayed and colored like an American flag.
The Veterans Day display included a ceremony in which several different speakers read the names displayed on the memorial.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation tweeted a video of the full Veterans Day Ceremony. “Watch LIVE the #Tunnel2Towers #VeteransDay Reading of the Names ceremony in front of the Lincoln Memorial.”
“Honoring our Veterans – the names of the 7,070 men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice since 9/11 are being read by Gold Star families and Vets thanks to @Tunnel2Towers – with powerful moments from widows like Jennie Taylor @FoxNews #VeteransDay,” Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins tweeted.
During the ceremony, Jennie Taylor read the name of her husband, Maj. Brent Russell Taylor, who was killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2018.
“My husband Maj. Brent Taylor was my husband for 15 years and the father of our seven children,” she said. “At the time of his fourth and final combat deployment, he was also serving as the mayor of my hometown in North Ogden, Utah, making him the first sitting politician to be killed in action since the Civil War.”
“Brent, we love you and we miss you more than words can say,” she added. “Thank you for your light, your love and your leadership. We’ll do our best to take it from here. Until we meet again, I love you.”
Tom Kilganon, the president of the wounded veteran rehabilitation organization Freedom Alliance, also read names from the Fallen Heroes Memorial.
“At the Lincoln Memorial today, the names of 7,000+ fallen heroes are being read and remembered to mark 20 years of sacrifice in the War in Terror. I was honored to read the names of several of these heroes a few moments ago. @Tunnel2Towers,” Kilgannon tweeted.
Newsday reporter Laura Figueroa Hernandez tweeted, “Bradley Blakeman, a former WH adviser to both Bushes & Reagan, (and brother of Nassau’s Bruce Blakeman) was among the speakers at @Tunnel2Towers Vets Day memorial event in DC. He told @Newsday post 9-11 ‘ordinary citizens did extraordinary things & they continue to do it.’”
