One of the most important things Ron does with his memory is the Afghanistan Memorial Wall. He has memorized the names of all the soldiers that have died in Afghanistan serving their country. He is an Afghanistan veteran himself and so he recognized how crucial it is for the families of the fallen soldiers to know that we are grateful and that they will never be forgotten.
Ron arrived at a TCU football game where he was scheduled to assemble the wall at 8am and began writing each soldier’s rank, first name and last name on the black memorial wall he set up the night before. He wrote the fallen soldiers’ names in order beginning with the first death and ending with the most recent death all from memory. Over 2,200 names were listed on wall but what is even more remarkable than memorizing 7,000 words is the impact it had on the families and friends of these heroes.
Jack Beauchamp’s son Clayton was the 2079 name noted on the wall. Jack arrived at the wall at 10am and observed until 6pm as he waited for Ron to honor his son. I choked up as Jack and everyone that had gathered watched Ron write Clayton’s name on the wall. I will never forget it.
Many other onlookers watched in amazement at Ron’s talent but I hope that everyone took with them the purpose for this wall. To simply recognize and remember all the brave soldiers who are at war now and those who have perished for our freedom.
