Military and civic leaders and students from D.A. Smith Middle School gathered at the new military mural in Ozark for a formal dedication Tuesday.
Michelle Mann OZARK — “You soldiers are heroes to me,” said John A. “Junior” Galloway as he scanned the crowd attending the formal dedication of the military mural in Ozark Tuesday morning. “I salute you.”
Created by Dothan muralist Wes Hardin, the mural painted on the wall of the Ben Baker Flooring Building facing D.A. Smith Middle School, is a tribute to the city’s relationship with the military spanning decades.
Blankenship said that no tribute to the military would be complete without recognition of the historic 131th Armored Tank Battalion. Galloway was Blankenship’s first sergeant when Blankenship served with the unit in the 1980s. “So that tells you how old he is,” the mayor said with a smile. The unit was activated during World War II and deactivated at the end of it. Some 22 months later, in November 1947, the unit was reorganized, expanded, and re-designated as the 131st Tank Battalion, Alabama Army National Guard, with the battalion headquarters in Ozark. In February 1950, the 131st was re-designated the 131st Tank Battalion 131st Heavy Tank Battalion.
In 2012 the National Guard Armory closed and in early 2022, the facility, located along U.S. Highway 231 in Ozark was demolished. The Dale County Schools Bridge Academy vocational education was built on the location and opened to students the next year.
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