Vet pays amazing Memorial Day tribute at Diamondbacks doubleheader

The phrase "never forget" is tossed around often, especially when referring to fallen war veterans.

Former U.S. Navy specialist Ron White took this sentiment to a literal sense on Memorial Day.

During the Arizona Diamondbacks' doubleheader with the Texas Rangers on Monday, White paid tribute to 2,200 servicemen and women killed during the ongoing mission in Afghanistan by printing their names on a specially constructed wall at Chase Field.

A great gesture in and of itself, White's list was especially moving, as the entire thing was constructed from memory.

"It's a way to pay tribute," White stated.

"One of the things that was an inspiration of this project ... you always hear people say, 'You are not forgotten. We will never forget.' I kind of wanted to make that literal. I literally have not forgotten."

White was a memory expert and former intelligence specialist in the Navy, and he got the idea for his Afghanistan tribute while visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

It takes about ten hours for him to recall and write the over 2,000 names, and although it may be the most well-documented, Memorial Day at Chase Field was not the first time White completed the projected. He has previously completed the project in his home town of Fort Worth, Texas in February, as well as at San Antonio's Alamo in March and Times Square in New York City in April.

White's undertaking almost always draws a crowd, and he brings folding chairs with him for spectators to sit.

"I had a grandmother pull up a lawn chair and sit for two hours and watch me write her grandson's name. Every time someone just happens to be walking by the wall, they stop dead in their tracks. It is something they live with every day and don't realize that a stranger has taken the time to remember their names," White said.

"They say that I am helping keep their son's memory alive. That is really gratifying."