ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – On July 4, 1990, Mayor Gordon Coley led dedication ceremonies for a memorial “in honor and memory of those men and women who have served their country in peace and war.”

Less than a month later, on Aug. 2, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, thrusting many of the areas sons and daughters into Operation Desert Shield, which would become Operation Desert Storm on Jan. 15, 1991.

Ten years later, the war on terror would hit home on Sept. 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., while another plane, likely headed for the White House, was taken back by its passengers, going down in a field in Pennsylvania.

What followed was an armed force invasion of Afghanistan and later a return to fight forces in Iraq.

That brings us to the present when, just five days after the 10th anniversary of those attacks, Coley, surrounded by family and local officials, was honored by having the original memorial renamed Mayor Gordon Coley Memorial Park.

“It just shows the type of people we’ve got here,” Coley said.

Mayor Charles Murphy, who served on the city council at the time, along with council members Joe Kitchens and Brently Kendrick, who were also on the council in 1990, spoke at Thursday’s dedication, touting Coley’s dedication to his country, his family and to Robertsdale.

“He was dedicated to clean-up and beautification projects,” said Murphy of Coley, who served as the city’s mayor from 1988 to 1992. “Many of the projects that we’ve seen come to fruition today, such as the city’s sidewalk project, were because of him or were started by him.”

All three speakers at Thursday’s ceremony expressed their belief that Coley translated that dedication through his service to the military and the dedication to his family into his service to the city as mayor.

“He was truly dedicated to this city and I know when he set his mind to something, it was going to get done,” Kitchens said. “We did a lot of good things for this city during his time and mayor and I know it was because of his dedication that those things got done.”

“He was a man who loved Robertsdale, who had vision of Robertsdale and an ideal of what he wanted Robertsdale to look like,” Kendrick said. “He loves this city and loves his country and wanted to do something here to show veterans our appreciation of what they’ve done. It is fitting, I think, that this place now bears his name.”

The Rev. Steve Spinning, pastor of the Robertsdale United Methodist Church, gave the prayer of dedication to the facility on Thursday.

“Many of you here might now this man as a military man, many of you here might now this man who served his country and his city,” Spinning said. “I also know him as a man of faith and a man who is dedicated to his family, which is certainly evidenced by all of his family here today.”

Murphy recalled how the property became available through a friend of Mayor George Pervy Thames. In the mid-1980s Highway 59 was split into northbound and southbound creating two separate properties.

The west, and smaller property, Murphy said, Coley felt would be ideal to be used as a memorial.

“There was nothing here at the time and as a former veteran the mayor wanted to do something to honor the military,” Murphy said. “When the property was leased for a billboard, we were looking for a place to establish a memorial park and it seemed ideal.

After Operation Desert Storm begin in January of 1991, it was decided that a memorial should be made specifically to honor the men and women who served during that conflict. In March of 1991, flags were erected just north of the memorial park, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 90, and each flag has a plaque at its base dedicated to someone who served during the first Iraq war.

In the late 1990s, Murphy said, the city was able to purchase the property on Highway 59, along with the property on the east side of Highway 59, which was donated for the new Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce building.

“We’ve been able to make several improvements to the property since then,” Murphy said.

This past summer, discussion began with Coley’s wife, Opal, on being able to dedicate the property in Coley’s honor.

“We originally wanted to have it ready for July 4, but knew that was impossible,” Murphy said. “We thought we were going to wait until Veteran’s Day.”

But then, it was decided that the plaque could be ready for another milestone in Coley’s life.

“Today is his birthday,” Murphy said. “We could think of no more fitting present.”