FORT BENNING, Ga., (June 10, 2015) -- The 173rd Airborne Brigade Association is honoring Medal of Honor recipients, Sgt. Kyle White and Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts. Their names will be added to the 173rd Airborne Brigade National Memorial Medal of Honor wall at 10 a.m. June 13 on the National Infantry Museum's Walk of Honor.

Retired Col. Kenneth Smith, president of the 173rd Airborne Brigade National Memorial Foundation, said the monument is important to Soldiers and Families of the 173rd because it gives the members a private place to heal, meditate and think without politics or threat of protests.

The memorial stands at the head of the National Infantry Museum's Walk of Honor campus, Smith said. The 173rd memorial is dedicated to fallen Soldiers from Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The memorial is unique in that it is the only memorial to honor the fallen allies killed in action while serving with the 173rd in Vietnam from Australia and New Zealand.

"We built the memorial because the 173rd did not have a home in the United States where people could come together to remember, to grieve and to heal," Smith said. "Fort Benning seemed the logical place as the home of the Airborne for us to locate the memorial."

The monument is a place for veterans and the Gold Star mothers and fathers to grieve, which is a motivating force to keep the memorial current, Smith said.

Community members, Soldiers, veterans and Family members are welcome to attend the event.