(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
As we head into Memorial Day weekend, we hear from StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative. At the Fort Stewart Army base in Hinesville, Georgia, there is a memorial called Warriors Walk. It honors fallen soldiers attached to the 3rd Infantry Division. Sergeant Aaron Xavier Wittman is one of them. At StoryCorps, Wittman's father, Duane, recalled a moment just before Aaron deployed to Afghanistan.
DUANE WITTMAN: We were down visiting him at Fort Stewart, spending the whole weekend with him. And he said, you know what that is over there, Dad? That's Warrior Walk. There's a redbud tree over there for every soldier that's ever been attached to the Fort Stewart units that were killed in action. And so I said, well, you want to take me over and look at it? He said, hell, no. I don't want to ever have a tree over there. I said, well, hopefully that'll never happen.
But he was killed in Afghanistan on 10 January, 2013. And I think he's Tree 445. It took me about a year before I finally accepted. And I spent a lot of time by myself, which wasn't that good. Sometimes I'd be, like, talking, just like we're talking now. And I would just stand up and scream. One year later, they decided to change the whole Warrior Walk. And there's no redbuds there anymore. It's all white crape myrtles. It's beautiful.
And so they gave away the redbuds. I called his soldiers and just said, look, I want that tree. So you save it and I will be down there in a couple of days. And I'll get it. And so I did. And I wrapped it up in sheets to protect it. Then I brought that tree home. And that redbud is in my front yard. And then the redbud started dropping little seed pockets. So I started collecting them up, and then I would put them in buckets, and then I would nurse them along. And then people would come by, and they'd say, oh, the redbud. And I'd say, you want one? Here it is. That's Aaron's redbud.
Aaron had a heart of gold. He would fight for his friends, not for himself. And he was that way all his life. So when I see the tree, every day, I think of Aaron. It's beautiful. You know, we have five grandchildren. And I thought we probably would've had another two or three. And I feel guilty for every serviceman or woman who never gets a chance to fulfill their dreams. You know, I realize it's a choice they made and it's a chance they took. We accept it. But at the same time, I feel guilty for all of them.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHRIS ZABRISKIE'S "JOHN STOCKTON SLOW DRAG")
INSKEEP: Retired Army Major Duane Wittman recalling his son, Aaron. His StoryCorps interview is archived at the Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHRIS ZABRISKIE'S "JOHN STOCKTON SLOW DRAG") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.