Here's an interesting question. Among Husker fans that officially registered for the Red Out Around the World celebration and the hundreds of thousands who are expected to participate in the event Saturday, do you have anyone in mind who's truly unique?

Think about all those locked-in, red-out, died-in-the-wool Cornhusker fans around the world. Whether they're in Iceland or Imperial, surely you know someone whose story is worth sharing.

This is not a trick question nor is it intended for debate. The answer to truly unique and certainly elite is Clayton Anderson, who will be in Dan (Larry the Cable Guy) and Cara Whitney's suite Saturday and waving to an NCAA record 308th consecutive sellout crowd during pre-game introduction ceremonies.

Leave it to an astronaut to fly Nebraska's colors higher than anyone else ever imagined.

"I am honored to be a part of Red Out Around the World," Anderson said, knowing full well that he may be the only person who can actually say he had a true "Red Out Around the World" experience.

You might remember Anderson orbiting the Earth as a member of the 15th Expedition to the International Space Station and then later, with STS-131, giving Anderson that rare opportunity to walk in space.

Who Else Watched Big Red 215 Miles Above Earth?

"I believe I am the only person to have ever watched live Husker football games while soaring in orbit some 215 miles above the Earth's surface," Anderson said.

So "Go Big Red" to everyone who is bracing to connect with their beloved Huskers Saturday and especially to Ronald Stark, who lives in Palm Coast, Fla.

A University of Nebraska-Kearney graduate and a lifelong Husker fan, Stark has watched the last two space shuttle launches from his front door, so he's well aware of Anderson and his connection to everything red.

Stark knows that Anderson held a red cap with a white N on it while flying in space, and he knows that the Ashland, Neb., native carried into orbit a pair of gloves worn by Curtis Tomasevicz, a former Husker walk-on football player who won an Olympic bobsledding gold medal last winter.

Stark even knows that Anderson applied to NASA for 14 straight years to be an astronaut and was turned down 14 straight times before he was finally accepted on his 15th and final request.

The perseverance of a walk-on like Tomasevicz or an astronaut like Anderson, though, has nothing on the Ronald Stark Story. His is another script full of drama and trauma, and in an amazing way, his love for Nebraska football became an important part of his motivation to live.

On His Fourth Rotation, He Almost Lost His Life

On Sept. 3, 2007, on his fourth rotation to Iraq, Stark suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) while on mounted patrol. His heart stopped in flight, and he was resuscitated. Three days later, after he had been evacuated to Germany, Stark regained consciousness.

He went on to spend 19 days in Ward 68 at the Walter Reed Medical Center, the U.S. Army's flagship medical facility in Washington, D.C., where Stark, a Kearney native, was surrounded by his family, including his wife Katie, daughter Elizabeth and sons Douglas and Anthony.

"My right side was weak and unresponsive," Stark said. "I had to learn to walk, talk and take care of myself again," Stark said.

On Oct. 31 that same year, he was sent back to Fort Stewart, Ga., to become part of the new Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion, spending the next 26 months in physical, speech, occupational, balance and TBI therapies.

Then he had to face the Disability Evaluation System in the pilot program, and the result was not surprising - 90 percent disability from the Army, coupled with permanent retirement. He also received a 100 percent disability from the Veterans Administration, so eight months ago, Stark's retirement from the military was total and permanent.

"I take life one day at a time," he said. "Some days are good, others not so good. But I enjoy what I have to the fullest."

His Motivation: Doing Normal Family Things

Stark missed a lot while defending his country. "Now I intend to spend as much time as I can with my family," he said. "They're my motivation, and I want to do normal things with them for as long as I can."

Last week, for instance, Stark took both of his sons to a Cub Scout Cuberee. "I will never take anything like that for granted," he said, adding that the same principles apply to the family's passion for Big Red football and especially Saturday when the Starks gather around their TV at home to watch the Huskers battle Texas on either ABC or ESPN.

Like countless others, "We will all be wearing red in our house, and we will be loud cheering the Huskers on in our own living room," Stark said. "I grew up listening to the Huskers on the radio. For us, it seemed like watching the Orange Bowl on New Year's was almost an annual event."

No wonder Stark felt like every other young boy growing up and living the good life in Nebraska. "I wanted to attend the University of Nebraska and play on Saturdays," he said.

But when he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and instead continued to listen to the Huskers on Armed Forces Radio. "My mother sent me a Husker flag," he said, "and it was displayed prominently everywhere I went."

When Stark was in Korea, he rigged an AM receiver and speakers to listen to the 1989 Orange Bowl, a 23-3 Husker loss to Florida State.

Just Like His Huskers, Stark Never Lost Heart

Nebraska's disappointments became his disappointments, but like the Huskers, he never, ever, ever, lost heart, even when he watched Georgia Tech beat the Huskers while at a USO in Saudi Arabia. He knew it was only a matter time when Nebraska would reign again over the college football world.

When Stark attended Colby Community College in Kansas in 1992, "I was finally fortunate enough to watch or listen to almost every game," he said. "In 1994, when I graduated from junior college and got married, I enrolled at UNK, and got to follow the comeback and Coach Osborne's first national title."

A year later, he saw his first Husker game - a 57-0 win over Missouri in Lincoln. "That was my wife's baptism to Husker Nation," he said, "and she became just as hooked on it as I am. My oldest son was born that year, and whenever Nebraska scored, he would raise his arms signaling a touchdown. Needless to say, that was 1995, so he raised his arms a lot that year. We also wore out a lot of T-shirts."

Stark considers the 1997 national championship his favorite because Tom Osborne could leave the game the way a man of his stature should leave it - at the very top.

In 2002, Stark enlisted in the Army and went to Fort Stewart. The next January, he was in Kuwait for yet another invasion of Iraq.

In the ensuing years, "being in SEC country, it was nearly impossible to watch a Husker game unless it was nationally televised," Stark said. "I'd keep track of everything on Huskers.com and listen to games on my computer."

In Operation Iraqi Freedom III, he was so into Nebraska football that he would adjust his patrol schedule around Husker game broadcasts.

His Comeback Matched the Huskers' Timing

In the fall of 2007, when Stark came dangerously close to losing his life, he had to rebuild his life one day at a time.

A year later, Stark celebrated his climb back in a way he will never forget, and Nebraska football's dramatic rebound in the same timeframe was a big part of his reward. As a Christmas present, his wife purchased tickets and tailgate passes for the entire family, so they could all watch the Huskers beat Clemson in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 2009, in Jacksonville.

"We had an absolute blast that day," Stark said.

Check out the photo at the top of this column. Stark is the one wearing the red sweatshirt, the red hair and the sunglasses he says are needed because Nebraska's future is so bright in its last year in the Big 12 that it can't help but pave the way into Big Ten prosperity. His wife, Katie, is holding daughter Elizabeth. Son Douglas is wearing the corncob hat, and son Anthony is trying to figure out why everyone is so happy.

"As someone who has been around the world, I understand the importance of Red Out Around the World," Stark said. "I've had the opportunity to view Husker games from the Far East to the Middle East and back here at home. And I just want to thank Nebraska and Huskers.com for giving me a piece of home no matter where I was."

Stark is confident that other Husker fans around the world feel the same way.

So please take a few minutes and tell us your own story, in 100 words or less, about why Red Out Around the World is important to you.

Or, perhaps, share a story about someone like Ronald Stark, who has used passion and perseverance - the two best traits in his favorite team - to overcome every challenge that life has thrown his way.