Ceremony honors fallen miners
![Friends, family and members of the community come together in loving memory of the fallen miners at the memorial service Sunday. [Photo/Ally Adragna]](/gcdn/authoring/2018/09/23/NTTN/ghows-DA-7691681f-91de-6509-e053-0100007fb437-666dcaad.jpeg?width=660&height=494&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Each year since Sept. 23, 2001, hundreds of people have gathered near the mine in Brookwood where 13 miners lost their lives in an underground tragedy.
A pair of blasts ripped through a now-closed Jim Walter Resources Mine No. 5 at Brookwood in 2001, just weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Miners rushing in to help victims of the first explosion were fatally injured by the second one.
The explosions killed Gaston Adams Jr., Raymond Ashworth, Nelson Banks, David Blevins, Clarence “Bit” Boyd, Wendell Johnson, John Knox, Dennis Mobley, Charles Nail, Joe Riggs, Charles Smith, Joe Sorah and Charlie Stewart.
A monument with the miners’ names now stands outside West Brookwood Church, where Sunday’s memorial service was held. The service is held in remembrance of the 2001 disaster and also pays tribute to all fallen miners.
