This Man Memorized Every Soldier Killed In Afghanistan For An Amazing Tribute

NBC News 5A man named Ron White is creating a memorial for all 2,200 U.S. military servicemembers killed in Afghanistan, writing their name and rank on a black wall — and he's doing it all by memory.

A Navy veteran of Afghanistan himself, White believes he's creating a memorial similar to the Vietnam Wall, for troops lost in Afghanistan.

"I just set out to memorize all the names," White told ABC News. "The message I wanted to say is, you guys are not forgotten. I'm going to do my part to keep your memory alive, and so that is the message of the wall. You are not forgotten."

So last Thursday, White stood in front of a blank, black wall in Fort Worth, Texas, and began writing in white ink. The over 7,000 words took more than eight hours to complete.

"I enjoyed watching him write the names," Marion Buckner, grandmother of PFC Austin Staggs, told ABC News. "It just gave me chills, really. You see how many families are affected."

White plans to continue traveling around the country and repeat his memorial wall, hoping to raise money for veterans charities such as the Wounded Warrior Project.

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