Perspective: Walking amongst warriors

(AP) The sergeant major calls the name, Staff Sgt. John L. Hartman Jr., as it's unveiled on a granite marker at the root of a new eastern redbud tree on Warriors Walk _ where hundreds of these living memorials have been planted to honor the wartime dead.

Hartman volunteered for a third tour in Iraq last year so an Army buddy could stay home with his newborn son. He was killed Nov. 30 when a bomb blast tore into his Humvee.

Last week, Hartman became the 318th soldier memorialized at Warriors Walk, a grove of eastern redbuds started with 34 trees in April 2003.

Fort Stewart has planted a tree here for every member of the 3rd Infantry Division to die in the war, as well as for soldiers from other Army posts killed while serving with the division.

Jeff Fornshell, the post's ceremonies coordinator, said he wonders how many trees he'll have to plant this year.

Read the rest at CBS News