Posted on 03/02/2013 11:50:59 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
It was a solemn scene Thursday as U.S. Navy veteran Ron White stood at a black wall in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, and wrote in white the full name and rank of each of the 2,200 military members who had died in Afghanistan.
What made the act even more moving was that White had no list. He had memorized the 2,200 names and ranks, more than 7,000 words.
“A couple of years ago, I was looking at the Vietnam Wall and just started thinking, ‘What’s the Afghanistan memorial going to look like?’” White told ABCNews.com. “Then I started thinking about that, and I thought, ‘I wonder if I could memorize the Vietnam Wall’ and that evolved into ‘Wait a minute, why don’t you memorize the names from Afghanistan? That’s the war you served in.’”
“When I was at the wall, I simply stood at the wall and took an 11-hour mental walk around downtown Fort Worth and wrote out the names,” White said. “I was very, very, very focused on the wall, but I was also very conscious of what was going on behind me. It was a very solemn, emotional day. People were just standing there in silence.”
As he wrote, White said he kept hearing a woman mention the name Austin Staggs in conversation, one name among the lost soldiers.
“Finally, I turned around and I said, ‘Ma’am, did you know Private First Class Austin Staggs?’” White recalled. “And she said, ‘Yes, he was my grandson, and I’m going to stand right here and watch you write these names until you get to his name.’”
White told her it would be close to three hours before he reached Staggs’ name, but the woman said she would stay. And she did.
(Excerpt) Read more at classichitsandoldies.com ...
I saw him doing this on our local news..What a tribute to our fallen warriors..and blessing to those who loved them.
It reminds me of the destroyer sailor who fell overboard on Yankee Station in the 1960s. North Viets picked him up, tossed him into the Hanoi Hilton, where he memorized the names of every POW. He had no propaganda value, was released early, and our government knew exactly as of the date of his release, who was imprisoned.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if America had more young men & women like this, or at least gave the effort this young man did.
I had not known of this! Amazing.
Incredible. I am only 60 miles from downtown Ft. Worth, if I’d known this was happening I’d have stood there and watched.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.