The National Veterans Shrine and Register of Honor is another popular attraction for visitors at the American Village. A recent addition, the shrine opened in 2014.

“It’s one of the few things that was not (on the master plan),” American Village founder and CEO Tom Walker said. “The advent of technology made it possible.”

Patterned after Philadelphia’s Carpenters Hall, the shrine features interactive media, artifacts and exhibits. It also features major sculptures and expansive paintings.

The shrine honors the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans from all wars.

“These are the ones who took the ideas and made them possible,” Walker said.

Housed within the shrine is the Veterans Register of Honor, “a website and database containing photographs, biographical sketches and stories of America’s veterans and active members of the United States Armed Forces,” according to its website.

Military members or their family can send submissions through the website. Visitors to the shrine are able to search for veterans by name or hometown and view their information on digital screens.

Walker and Poole hope that in time all Alabama families will submit the information of a friend or family members who served in the military.