By Crystal McGough, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Alabama Fallen Warriors Memorial Project founder Mark Davis was in attendance at the May 23 meeting of the Trussville City Council to give a presentation and thank the council for its support of the project.
“December of 2021, I came before you to propose building the Alabama Fallen Warriors Monument at Trussville Veteran’s Park. You all voted unanimously that night,” Davis said. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you so much for believing in my vision for the monument to honor the 226 men and women that have died since 9-11. These are the faces of freedom; this is why y’all built the monument.”
Davis said that, unfortunately, the number of Alabama’s fallen warriors since Sept. 11, 2001, has now risen to 227.
“We just had one added last month, an Army Master Sergeant from Hoover,” he said. “He died of cancer due to the burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Furthermore, Davis publicly recognized three individuals who played significant roles in the fruition of the project: Jeff Berry, Lee Bennett, and Charles McDowell.
“They really pulled together and got that monument built,” Davis said. “Jeff, Lee and Charles, they worked tirelessly to make this a beautiful monument that Trussville would be very proud of.”
Next, Davis spoke to the council about a few new elements he has added, including a QR code that can be scanned, linking people to the Blue Star Salute Foundation’s website where they can see all of Alabama’s fallen warriors.
“All these faces, when they died, when they served, their branch and rank of service,” he said.
Davis also said he worked with Trussville Historical Society’s Jane Alexander to create a time capsule.
“My vision is to open it up in 25 years,” he said. “One of the ideas we talked about is getting the first graders in school to write a letter. They’ll be 31-32 in 25 years. They’ll be around when we open up the time capsule.””
He talked about the addition of silhouette figures representing each branch of the military, which will stand on top of the hill overlooking and saluting the memorial.
“That hit me at three o’clock in the morning,” he said. “I got up early one morning, I don’t know why – this has always been on my mind – but I came up with the idea of the soldiers saluting.”
Davis presented the mayor and council members each with a concrete paver they can put in their yard, recognizing them for their contribution to the memorial.
“It’s been an honor to work on this; I’ve had a lot of fun,” Davis said in closing. “It’s an honor to serve our military service members.”
Councilor Jaime Anderson reported to Davis that 80 Gold Star families have already signed up to attend the dedication of the memorial on Monday, May 29.
“This project, really, was (Davis’) vision from day one,” Mayor Buddy Choat said. “We were afforded the opportunity to support this, and this council, as he said, voted unanimously to support it. It wasn’t about how much it’s going to cost. We had so many people to donate time, money … This will be a proud moment for our city, and how appropriate on Memorial Day to be able to do this.”
The council also recognized Tiwanna Taylor on her retirement from Peachtree Assisted Living, presenting Taylor with a certificate, which read, “Presented to Tiwanna Taylor in honor of her decades of tender-loving care to our senior relatives and neighbors here at Peachtree Assisted Living. The City of Trussville wishes you a long and healthy retirement.”
During council and mayor reports and comments, the council praised the HTHS Girls Softball team for winning the 7A State Championship.
Council President Lisa Bright called it “the biggest news of the past few days.”
“Three out of the last five years, they’ve won the state championship,” Councilor Alan Taylor added. “The fourth year, they were runner ups; they were in the state championship game and lost. The fifth year, it was COVID, and they didn’t have it. I think we would’ve won it that year. It’s a well-oiled machine right now.”
In other business, the council approved a consent agenda that consisted, among other things, of reappointing Jim Meads to the Planning and Zoning Commission and appointing James Miller to the Veterans Committee, replacing Rob Langford.
Additionally, the council approved the following resolutions and ordinances:
- Ordinance 2023-010, annexing undeveloped lot at 4680 Trussville Clay Road
- Ordinance 2021-011, annexing undeveloped lot at 6431 Roe Chandler Road
- Ordinance 2023-012, amending the city’s $6,000,000 General Obligation Warrant
- Resolution 2023-33, awarding police cargo van bid to Voyles Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Birmingham
- Resolution 2023-34, declaring various Parks & Recreation assets as surplus
The Trussville City Council meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the City Hall Annex. Meetings begin at 6 p.m., and workshop meetings are typically held the Thursday before a regular meeting.