By Jason Morton

September 21, 2021 - It’s been 20 years since the lives of 13 coal miners were lost in a Brookwood mine disaster.

That’s 20 years of birthday parties and graduations, marriages and births missed by 13 fathers, brothers, sons and friends.

A memorial service is planned for Thursday at West Brookwood Church to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the mine disaster that killed 13 miners on Sept. 13, 2001.

Photo: Jason Getz, Tuscaloosa News

On Thursday, the Alabama Miners’ Memorial Foundation will host the 20th memorial service for the 13 lost miners.

It will be held at West Brookwood Church at 12882 Lock 17 Road in Brookwood, with the pre-service beginning at 4 p.m.

A helmet seen at the Miners Memorial Service is set in the middle of a ring of flowers has the names of all thirteen men who died in a mining accident in 2001. 

Photo: Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News

The ceremony itself will start at 5 p.m. and feature guest speakers and guest singers, including Brothers United, Promised Land and the Rimes Family.

The event is free and open to the public, but organizers are asking those who come to practice social distancing and recommending the usage of masks or facial coverings.

It was on a Sunday – Sept. 23, 2001 – when 32 miners went into what was then Jim Walter Resources Mine No. 5 to perform routine maintenance when a small explosion caused by a falling rock sparking a cloud of methane gas seriously injured a miner.

Jim Starns and Tammy Hitt view the photos and memorial dedicated to fallen miners  as they attend the annual Miners Memorial Service. 

Photo: Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News

This drew the aid of 12 of his fellow miners, and all of them lost their lives when a second, more powerful explosion – one that could be felt for miles underground – ignited just before they could reach the exit.

Now, they are remembered each year at West Brookwood Church alongside a plaque bearing their names: 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 Terry Stewart.