Fallen Heroes Memorial displayed in DeRidder

DERIDDER, La. (KPLC) - A unique way to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice can be seen in Louisiana for the first time this weekend.

In DeRidder, over 7,000 dog tags create an image of the American flag, symbolizing freedom and the thousands of lives lost in the War on Terror since September 11, 2001.

“It means everything,” War Memorial Civic Center Director Faith Scott said. “There are so many people who are not able to travel to go and visit exhibits in D.C. or even an exhibit maybe even in Texas.”

With the memorial comes a strong message.

“So, if we can get our community - rally our community - together and come and pay respect and tribute to these families. It is to me the utmost respect and of importance,” Scott said.

“All during my time in the military, I just traveled everywhere,” veteran Mark Anger said. “I’ve been a lot of places people don’t want to go, but that’s what I signed up for.”

Anger comes from a military family. He said the decision to fight for his country was an easy one.

“It was instilled in me that I owed my country service. It’s that simple,” Anger said.

We asked what a memorial like this means to someone who has served, and he said it’s about commemorating and not forgetting the sacrifices that were made.

“We’ve tried to bring stuff like this to the public to keep in their memory so we don’t forget,” Anger said. “Because when we start forgetting is when we start to make the same mistakes over and over again.”

The memorial is open until November 21 at the War Memorial Civic Center in DeRidder.

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