Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. - The faces of the family members and comrades of the fallen Triple Nickel Soldiers of the reflected the somber tone of the occasion where the fallen were honored with a monument dedicated to remembering the sacrifice they made for their country at Memorial Park on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, May 20.
The memorial is carved in granite for its endurance and wrought with symbols of the 555th Engineer Brigade and the sacrifice of the fallen warriors including rooks to symbolize the strength and support of the engineers; the color of the rooks is black to represent the mourning of the unit, the families and the nation; the chiseled edges represent the unfinished campaign for which they gave their lives.
"It was very moving; it was very simple and it was very beautifully done," said Sally Wiley, mother of a fallen warrior honored at the memorial dedication. "I felt a great sense of pride."
Wiley also said she was appreciative of the unit and the U.S. Army that her son was remembered among other heroes of the Triple Nickel.
"I'm very delighted and very honored that he's been remembered," said Wiley, who was wearing all white as a member of the American Gold Star Mothers to represent the purity and innocence of her son who was killed in Iraq in 2009. "There is a sense of closure and a feeling that he is with me."
Wiley felt the only thing that was missing was the knowledge of the nation as a whole that fallen warriors are not forgotten.
"I wish this could be seen all over the country," said Wiley, a resident of Gardnerville, Nev. "To see how the Army does honor the fallen Soldiers and what it means for the families to be together and have that time of remembrance."
Col. Michael Brobeck, 555th Engineer Brigade commander, offered the memorial park as a place of reflection in his address to the family and comrades gathered for the dedication.
"It will serve as a location for our Soldiers, units, families and friends from now and far into the future to come and remember and reflect on the sacrifice of their Soldier," said Brobeck.
The 27 Soldiers listed on the memorial may have been lost, but they were not forgotten by their families, the brigade, the Army or the nation.
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