The Killeen Daily Herald, local to Fort Hood, notes the July death of US Army CPL Frank Gross, who was killed in Afghanistan one month into his deployment. CPL Gross had a consistent motivation:

Cpl. Frank Gross wrote the same Bible verse, Colossians 3:23, inside his baseball caps throughout his high school and college pitching career: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

“Basically, whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability,” his mother, Toni Gross, said…”That was his life verse.”

Notably, Gross had not only a Bachelors degree but also a Masters, meaning he was overqualified to be an officer.  The article reports he chose to enlist first because he “wanted to earn the respect of his soldiers by having first been enlisted.”

The article notes a unique story to Gross’s service:

His mother takes heart in a set of three dog tags she received after his death, along with his other belongings.

The first set names his religion as “none.” The second names it as “nondenominational Christian,” and the third reads “Christian.”

“It’s a great story,” Toni Gross said of the tags. “It’s uplifting and positive.”

The issue of religious identification on dog tags is sometimes a controversial one, especially for those who claim they are not accurately defined by the official military system (most often those who claim a Jedi faith or get “NO REL PREF” instead of “atheist”).

For some, the lettering stamped on that line of a piece of metal may mean nothing.  For others, it carries great weight.