Global War on Terrorism Memorial
Columbus
The story
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial was dedicated at the National Infantry Museum on 16 October 2017 to honor the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who have given their lives since the attacks of 11 September 2001.
It is rededicated every year, when the names of those who have fallen since the last ceremony are engraved, so the memorial grows with the war it remembers. It carries those who died in the theater of operations and those who later died of wounds received there; the names come from the Defense Casualty Analysis System.
It is rededicated every year, when the names of those who have fallen since the last ceremony are engraved, so the memorial grows with the war it remembers. It carries those who died in the theater of operations and those who later died of wounds received there; the names come from the Defense Casualty Analysis System.
What stands there
Black granite panels carry the names, each by panel and row. Narrative panels tell the story of the conflict, and murals carry artwork from each of the services.
A thirteen-foot steel beam from World Trade Center Tower 1, presented to Fort Benning by New York City firefighters, spans the plaza on two pillars. At the center stands a five-sided platform in tribute to those killed at the Pentagon. On it is a bronze figure of SPC Ross A. McGinnis, awarded the Medal of Honor for giving his life to save his crew in Iraq on 4 December 2006. He stands as the leader of a nine-man Infantry squad, and the other eight members of the squad stand in bronze around him.
A thirteen-foot steel beam from World Trade Center Tower 1, presented to Fort Benning by New York City firefighters, spans the plaza on two pillars. At the center stands a five-sided platform in tribute to those killed at the Pentagon. On it is a bronze figure of SPC Ross A. McGinnis, awarded the Medal of Honor for giving his life to save his crew in Iraq on 4 December 2006. He stands as the leader of a nine-man Infantry squad, and the other eight members of the squad stand in bronze around him.