A single, light blue handled shovel stuck into the ground caught my eye.

The color was apt; light blue is the color of the infantry, the Army's oldest branch.

As to shovel, its purpose was to turn a piece of earth marking a sacred place for the construction of a memorial honoring the 51 soldiers who gave their lives while assigned to 2nd and 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, 2nd Infantry Division since 9/11.

"This brigade is the only one that does not have a memorial," stated Col. Louis Zeisman, commander of the 2-2 SBCT.

"This will change when this memorial is commemorated."

Memorials honoring the fallen of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division and the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division are in the park.

Now, the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which at one point was the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, will have its memorial.

>>> John Amdal, Danielle L'Hevreux, Col. Louis Zeisman and Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Dotson hold out the first shovel full of dirt during a groundbreaking ceremony initiating construction of the memorial to honor the fallen of 2nd and 5th Brigades, 2nd Infantry Division since 9/11. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

A bit of history here may help.

The then new 2nd Brigade Stryker Team, 2nd Infantry Division deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006.

After the deployment, the brigade was inactivated in April 2008.

In July 2010, the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division was inactivated and reflagged as the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Today in Joint Base Lewis-McChord's 4.2-acre Memorial Park, which is just south and east of Watkins Field, about 40 individuals gathered to recognize the start of the building of a memorial to honor the fallen soldiers from both brigades.

"There has been a lot of hard and emotional work in bringing this project and the funding together," said Danielle L'Hevreux.

Organizers with Hearts Behind the Shield have worked to raise $60,000 for the memorial's construction.

Work on the memorial will be completed by the end of May.

"We rarely get the opportunity to thank these soldiers for all they've done for us," said John Amdal, an engineer with Skanska, the company that will build the memorial.

"We are very thankful to be a part of this."