September 24, 2022 - The public is invited to a Friday memorial service for 13 coal miners who died in an accident 21 years ago in Tuscaloosa County.

Music will start at 4 p.m., and the service will begin at 5 p.m. at the Miners’ Memorial Monument at West Brookwood Church, 12882 Lock 17 Road in Brookwood.

Thomas Wilson will speak and guest singers Promise Land will perform.

Organizers request that attendees practice social distancing. Masks are not required, but recommended. 

The service honors the memories of 13 men who died in Jim Walter Resources Mine No. 5 on Sept. 23, 2001.

The Alabama Miners' Memorial Foundation marked 20 years since the disaster that claimed the lives of 13 coal miners.  

Photo: Gary Cosby, Tuscaloosa News

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 Friday’s memorial service will be held. The service is held in remembrance of the 2001 disaster and also pays tribute to all fallen miners.

The service will be hosted by the Alabama Miners Memorial Foundation. 

At last year's memorial, Larry Spencer, international vice president for the United Mine Workers of America District 20, said the annual service represents a lasting commitment to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 23, 2001.

"We made the families a promise years ago to do this every year. We will never forget. UMWA will always be there for the families. We are always going to honor these people in some way," Spencer said.