GULF SHORES — After looking around Gulf Shores High School (GSHS), senior Portia Hollis noticed something was missing from the honors posted on the school walls.

Many alumni and current students have achievements featured along GSHS hallways, such as the ACT 30+ wall at the front of the school. All celebrate scholastic and sport-related achievements, but Hollis found no display of recognition for those who decided to join the military after graduating from high school.

As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of veterans, she saw a need for recognition of these students and decided to launch the "Home of the Brave" monument.

"Around 150,000 high school graduates annually make the courageous decision to enlist in the U.S. military," Hollis said. "They step away from everything familiar to them — their homes, their families, their schools — to protect people they have never even met."

She said she hopes Home of the Brave becomes an annual celebration for the school and a moment of appreciation for alumni and future students who join the military.

The monument itself will move to the new GSHS once it is open. The memorial lists GSHS alumni since 2020 who joined the military after high school. Currently, there are 11 students featured.

"The design blends our beach community with the strength of our military," Hollis said about the monument. "The names and photos will forever stay at Gulf Shores High School because wherever the military deploys them, they will always have a home here to come back to."

The monument was unveiled at a gathering Hollis put together at the school library on Nov. 7. Attendees included students, ROTC departments, school staff and administrative officials.

Despite not being able to complete it as a capstone project, a class grade or for any school credit in general, Hollis said in a speech at the unveiling that she created the Home of the Brave monument because it was something she thought was important. She has worked on the monument since July.

"My grandfather taught me what true service means; doing something bigger than yourself," she said, "not for recognition but out of love for others and for your country."