Veteran writes 2,300 fallen heroes’ names from memory

In a temporary memorial to those who died serving in Afghanistan, veteran Ron White has hand-written each name and rank on a wall displayed on the National Mall. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
Ron White writes each name from memory. It takes him about 11 hours to write the names and ranks of 2,300 service members killed in Afghanistan.(WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
A work in progress. Ron White pauses while writing the names on Memorial Day. He says the wall needs new panels to keep up with those killed in Afghanistan. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
Visitors stop to read the names on the wall on Memorial Day. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
Service members stop to look at the names of those killed in Afghanistan. Some asked about particular individuals they knew. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
Ron White stands before the wall of names listing each service member killed in Afghanistan. The two-time USA Memory Champion memorized all the names and ranks in ten months. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
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WASHINGTON — On Memorial Day, the nation pauses to remember service members who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Ron White remembers — like no one else.

White has memorized the rank and full name of every service member killed in Afghanistan.

A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom himself, White returned home in 2008.

“When I returned from Afghanistan, I just started wondering what the Afghanistan Memorial was going to look like,” he says.

But the two-time USA Memory Champion didn’t know immediately how he would turn his brain power into a tribute.

(Admittedly, he first considered an attempt to set the Guinness Book of World Records mark for digits of Pi.)

But once he had the idea to memorize the names of each of the fallen, the traveling memorial took shape and became his passion.

White spent 10 months memorizing, in order, the rank and first and last names of everyone killed since the war began.

The list keeps growing, and the wall actually needs more panels.

With a white marker on dark panels, White writes about 2,300 names on the wall. It takes about 11 hours — and 7,000 words — to complete the traveling memorial.

“I do it just to say you’re not forgotten,” White said from where he was writing on the National Mall.

He says one of the greatest fears for family members of the fallen is that their son or daughter’s sacrifice will be forgotten.

Letter by letter, with precision and an uncanny memory, White assures that won’t happen.

Learn more at supportthewall.com.

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