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Combat Infantrymen’s Association

Tag: Afraid

‘I Wasn’t Afraid to Die. I Was a Soldier’: Veteran Asks Heart Surgeon to Save Sentimental Tattoo During Transplant

Louis Smith, an Army veteran who served for more than 20 years, shows his chest tattoo on Nov. 8, 2024. Smith received a new heart at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Dec. 31, 2023.

Before his heart transplant, Louis Smith was prepared for death. In Saudi Arabia right after the Gulf War, the 66-year-old veteran helped lead a missile platoon that guarded aircraft. He served his country for more than two decades in the Middle East, South Korea and Europe. “I wasn’t afraid to die. I was a soldier,” […]