As US forces continue to draw down their equipment and leave Iraq, there are some unique items that troops are having to deal with.

As bases were built and initial combat conducted, a variety of memorials began to surface as units looked for ways to remember the fallen.  Some bases have T-barriers painted with murals, and others have entire walls covered with the names of those who paid the ultimate price at their nation’s call.

PFC Oscar Martinez is one such Marine.  He was killed in a rocket attack on Camp Al Taqaddum in Iraq in 2004.  His unit made a 3 foot tall aluminum cross and placed it on the base in his memory–nearly six years ago.

USMC Photo (Cpl Bobbie Curtis)

Now that bases are closing and being turned over to the Iraqis, US Marines at Al Taqaddum didn’t want the memorial to be lost.  Lance Cpl Andrew Johnson will hand-carry the cross to Martinez’s family:

It was a poignant reminder of what could happen…I felt compelled to carry it home because it was a memory…It was a reminder of why Marines keep coming back to [deployments].  I wanted to carry on the legacy.