The picture says it all. Former soldier Shaun Clark made a promise to tattoo the name of every soldier lost in Afghanistan, and he’s holding true to that promise. He now has 232 names permanently inked onto his back.

Mr Clark, who served with the 8th Battalion Light Infantry Regiment from 1989 to 1996, was waiting in the tattooist’s chair at 11am this morning to carry out his painful pledge.

The first name was etched on his body just as the traditional Armistice Day two-minute silence began.

He said: ‘I don’t mind suffering for a few days if I can let the lads know that people really care about what they’re doing out there, and raise some money for the guys coming home wounded as well.

‘The family thought I was mad to begin with, but they’ve come round to the idea now, and my wife is backing me all the way.’

The married father-of-two from Doncaster hopes his challenge will raise £500 for the charity Help for Heroes.

He plans on updating the sombre list every year on Remembrance Day if required.

Before his ordeal began, Mr Clark said: ‘It’s going to be painful business but it’s nothing compared to what the troops are going through every single day on the front line.’

He added: ‘I know it’s a bit extreme covering the top half of your body front and back with 223 names, but it’s my way of honouring all those men and women and it’ll be there as a memorial for as long as I live.’
Mr Clark

Mr Clark hopes to raise £500 for Help4Heroes through his ordeal

Mr Clark said: ‘I wanted to do something to raise money for the heroes who still need help and to honour the memory of the fallen.

‘I’ve still lots of friends from my days in the Army over in Afghanistan and there’s lots of Donny lads out there as well.

‘Lots of people do things to raise money but I wanted to do something different and something permanent.

‘It’s not just about raising money – it’s also about letting these lads know that people care about what they’re doing.’ (DailyMail.co.uk)

His family and fellow soldiers remembered the best of this brave man:

Schmid, also known as Oz, was from Winchester, Hampshire. His wife, Christina, said: “Oz was a phenomenal husband and loving father who was cruelly murdered during a relentless five-month tour. He was my best friend and soulmate. The pain of losing him is overwhelming. I take comfort knowing he saved countless lives with his hard work. I am so proud of him.”

He added: “To see him out here in Afghanistan was to view a man very much in his element; he simply loved what he did. In fact, you would swear that he was born for it.” (Guardian.co.uk)

Click here to read her essay.

This quote was taken from the U.S. Department of Defense website. Click here to visit. I didn’t know that the Dept. of Defense had a website dedicated to their Medal recipients, and I’m glad to see that they do. These people deserve to be remembered for their heroic and selfless acts on the battlefield.

What a brave young man. I’m sure his family is proud of him and his selfless actions, but I’m also sure they wish he could be with them today.

The Price of Freedom from Chuck Holton on Vimeo.
On August 16, I posted a blog called “They Call them Heroes” about a medevac mission to Wardak province. On that mission, two men from the 101st Airborne were killed and three more wounded in an IED blast during a combat resupply mission. I related that the dead are referred to over the radio net as “Heroes”, and rightly so.

I told the story of this mission when I was asked to speak at a church in Columbus, Ga., a few weeks ago. For that service, I put together the above video from that mission. Donnie’s feet are the last thing you see.(source)

Is there anything more horrific than burying a loved one felled in a war?  Perhaps. Some families of those who have fought overseas have never received closure in the form of their loved ones’ remains or even a small personal memento.  In 1947, having calculated that the whereabouts of 78,750 American soldiers remained unknown after World War II, the United States Air Force dedicated the third Friday of every September as POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Over the course of the next six decades, the number of missing warriors rose.  The Korean War claimed 8,051; Viet Nam, 1,742.  The Cold War took another 165 and the Gulf War, 7.  To date, the sole American soldier missing in Iraq is Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie.  These numbers do not include personnel killed in action and never brought home.

JPAC (Joint POW-MIA Accounting) is the governmental organization charged with the daunting task of locating, identifying, and returning to their native soil the aforementioned service men and women.  Housed in Hawaii, JPAC has been headed, since 2008, by Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp.  Colonel John M. Sullivan serves as Deputy Commander, Johnnie E. Webb as Deputy Public Relations-Legislation Affairs, Sergeant  Major Jackie D. Brown Jr. as Command Senior Enlisted Leader, and Dr. Thomas D. Holland as Scientific Deputy Director for the Central Identification Lab.  In addition to these officers are teams dedicated to search and retrieval missions, comprising archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, and deontologists.  A quick second read of those job titles is indicative of the enormity of JPAC’s objectives.

…On the third Friday in September, the State of New Jersey honors its POW-MIA‘s with a breakfast sponsored by Assemblymen Jack Conners and Herb Conaway.  These public officials invite veterans from all over the state to join in a memorial ceremony dedicated to the men and women who never made it home from the wars.  Honored Guests at the 2008 event included WWII POW veteran Joseph O’Donnell, Mrs. Judith Young, who is a Past President of the “Gold Star Mothers,” Mrs. Anna Marko of Cherry Hill, an 84 year old widow of WWII POW Leon Marko, State Adjutant General Glenn Reith, Colonel Stephan Abel, and other veteran dignitaries.

Read the rest of the article…

Barry Delaney lost his friend Private Kevin Elliott, who last month was killed in Afghanistan while on foot patrol. He was only 24 years old. Barry went all out in his fulfillment of the pact, donning a lime green dress, pink leg warmers and black boots. As the saluting shots were fired to commemorate a military death, Barry knelt by his friend’s grave and wept.

Read the full story here.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/