DALLAS — Suppose you want to understand the passion behind Carry The Load, the effort to honor the true meaning of Memorial Day, and the willingness to carry the memory, honor, and sacrifice of those we have lost. In that case, you just dial up five good friends.
"Yeah, this morning we started out at six in the morning," Andy Medrano said in a Zoom call from Louisville, Kentucky.
"Right now we are in Sheridan but we are headed to Laurel, Montana," said Rilea Stapf.
"We are on the West Coast Relay and we are in Pecos, Texas," said Colton Morrow.
"We are in St. Petersburg right now. We'll be headed to Tampa tomorrow," said Judd Word.
"We end in Chattanooga tonight," added Beth Sundquist.
Each is a manager of a relay team taking the Carry The Load message across the United States. Each relay ends in Dallas on Memorial Day weekend from starting points in Seattle, Fargo, ND, West Point, NY, Minneapolis, and Burlington, VT.
"I'm kind of a big deal. If you don't believe me you can just ask me anytime," Judd Word joked so that his four friends scattered across the U.S. could hear.
"He's humble y'all you can hear the humbleness coming out of him it just pours out of him," laughed Rilea Stapf.
But in this humble, friendly rivalry, there is a purpose.
"This whole entire trip is just a humbling experience. It makes you grateful for what I have day to day. It makes me grateful for what I have in my life. And it makes me even more aware there are folks out there that don't have what I have," said Stapf.
As has become the Carry The Load tradition, with buses wrapped with the names and faces of fallen military and first responders, they remind people with each mile that they both drive and walk, what Memorial Day is really about.
"The amazing part about it is on every walk you never know what story you're about to hear," said Judd Word.
Like the family of North Carolina State Trooper John Horton who joined the Carry The Load Relay this year.
Horton died in a tragic crash in 2022. This year his face is among those on a Carry The Load bus. His children reached out to touch him.
"We care and we want to make sure that these people are honored and their name is not forgotten," said Morrow.
"We are blessed to have what we have. And to be able to do this and give back to the families and hopefully help them heal as we go along," said Sundquist.
"And I should be able to live up to the expectation for the folks that have given the ultimate sacrifice, am I worthy of that sacrifice is the question," added Stapf.
The relays cover 20,000 miles, help raise millions for non-profits that help soldiers and first responders, and highlight the effort to keep saying the names of the fallen.
"We all want people to remember our fallen heroes. We don't want anybody to die twice. They die physically and the second time they die is when we stop saying their names," said Medrano.
And when the buses and relay teams arrive in Dallas at Reverchon Park Memorial Day weekend they invite you to be there.
"Do it for your loved ones, for the ones that aren't here. Carry them in and honor them," said Sundquist.
"We owe it to them and their families to at least show up and take a minute for them," said Morrow.
"Take five minutes, ten minutes, just to sit back and be appreciative of what you have because of the people who aren't here anymore," said Stapf.
A message they are willing to carry until we all, humbly, hear.
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