Two decades after the 1st Armored Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq and fought in the Second Battle of Ramadi, over 1,000 veterans gathered at Fort Bliss, Texas, for the dedication of the Ramadi Memorial.

“It was a city that nobody thought we could take,” Command Sgt. Maj. James Light, senior enlisted leader for the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, said during the Jan. 17 dedication. “Not our Congress, not our press, only the soldiers that were on the ground and those that led them believed that we could be successful.”

Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team first deployed to Tal Afar, Iraq, in January 2006. In May, the brigade moved south to Ramadi, a key logistical point and insurgent stronghold, to augment the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. During the Second Battle of Ramadi, which was fought in late 2006 and early 2007, the brigade fought alongside Marines, Navy SEALS and airmen amid escalating violence to gain control of the city.

Ninety-four service members died during the Second Battle of Ramadi. Now, a new memorial plaque attached to a wall of the brigade’s headquarters building includes the names of each U.S. service member killed in action.

Families whose service member died in Iraq still carry the weight of their loss today, said Debbie Lee, a Gold Star mother whose son Marc Lee, a Navy SEAL, died during the battle of Ramadi. 

“To the Gold Star families, your pain and sacrifice did not end with a folded flag,” said Lee, who also is the founder of America’s Mighty Warriors, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting troops and their families. “You live with a weight that does not leave, a grief that does not expire and a love that never fades. To the teammates who fought beside them, you carry memories burned into your soul, moments that return, uninvited, questions that still echo in the quiet.”

The new plaque and memorial weekend were made possible by support from retired Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, an Association of the U.S. Army senior fellow who commanded 1st Brigade Combat Team during the deployment, and several nonprofit organizations, including America’s Mighty Warriors.

MacFarland was inspired to create a memorial after finding a small plaque the unit had placed on post in 2007 leaning against a wall and weathered. “I did it because they did so much for me and for all of us,” he said.

MacFarland hopes the reunion will inspire troops to stay connected. “I really hope these units will now stay connected and continue to reconnect on their own at the company and battalion level … and continue to build that support structure,” he told Stars and Stripes.