EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal will be hosting the 54th annual Explosive Ordnance Disposal Memorial Ceremony May 6, 2023, at 9 a.m. central in honor and remembrance of the 344 EOD Technicians that have made the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives in the line of duty.
The Memorial Ceremony will also be live streamed and available for viewing online by visiting https://eodwarriorfoundation.org/events/.
The original memorial structure was dedicated on June 12, 1970 in Indian Head, Maryland. It consisted of four white cenotaphs -- one for each branch of service -- and was faced with bronze tablets containing the names of EOD technicians whom died in the line of duty.
After NAVSCOLEOD was consolidated at Eglin, the original memorial was disassembled and redesigned. The new structure consists of a single white wall faced with four bronze tablets identifying the names of the fallen. A brick from one of the original cenotaphs was incorporated into the current memorial by entombing it within the concrete wall.
The wall currently honors 344 fallen EOD warriors from 1942 to the present.
One EOD technician will be memorialized this year, honoring the ultimate sacrifice he made for our nation: Lt. JG. Aaron P. Fowler, who died April 17, 2022 while training with the Marine Corps at Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.