Veteran memorizes names, ranks of 2,300 Americans killed in Afghanistan: "They paid the ultimate price"

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado -- As the nation remembers its fallen service members on Memorial Day, an Afghanistan veteran has taken it to a whole new level.

Ron White has memorized the names of about 2,300 Americans killed in Afghanistan. He remembers their names and ranks in the chronological order of their deaths.

"I was looking at the Vietnam wall and I wondered how long it would take me to memorize," White told KKTV. "Then it clicked in my head: I should do Afghanistan because that's where I served."

White is currently on a cross-country tour, writing those names on a traveling wall.

"The first time I wrote it out was February 28th, 2013, so I've been doing this for three years," White told KKTV.

On Friday, May 27th, White was in Colorado Springs.

"I think it's important for people to see the wall, you know, and understand the scope of the sacrifice. When you see the visual of the wall and you see how big it is, you realize how many people paid the ultimate price. It's a reminder to us of the brave men and women who served our country. I think it's cliché to say they sacrificed for our freedom, but they really did," White said.

White is a former national memory champion. It took him 10 months to memorize the names.