DALLAS — To understand why thousands would brave temperatures near 100 degrees to listen to speeches and prayers and then march silently through sweltering Dallas streets, stop for a moment to listen to the families who make the pilgrimage to Reverchon Park ever year.
"I was 17, a senior in high school when he was killed," Aaron Board said of his older brother Cody Board, who was a 19-year-old Army private when he was killed in Afghanistan.
"I can try to explain to you the pain of losing a child," said Debbie Lee whose son Marc was the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. "I can use the most eloquent words that I can think of to describe that. Yet there's no way that you would ever completely understand. But I meet another Gold Star mom, we I don't have to say anything. We know."
"Carrying him, in the necklace," Gabby Carnell said, reaching to touch a small vial she wears next to her husband's wedding ring.
Marine veteran Michael Carnell died in February after a three-year battle with cancer.
They, and the tens of thousands of families just like them, are why Carry The Load exists, now in its 14th year. Formed to honor the true meaning of Memorial Day, its events and fundraisers support the families of the fallen and help provide financial assistance for dozens of non-profits devoted to helping veterans.
"I don't know all their names. But they're on the top of my mind," Aaron Board said while standing in Reverchon Park next to a field of more than 7,000 American flags representing the American lives lost since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including his brother Cody.
"Every time I get to say his name, his name carried forward and remembered," Board said.
Debbie Lee's son Marc has been gone 18 years now. Her non-profit, America's Mighty Warriors, helps veterans and other Gold Star families in his name.
"He stood up in the direct line of fire three times on his final day, willingly gave his life to save his teammates. And we still get to see him saving his teammates lives today 18 years later," Lee said.
Financial assistance that Lee offered to the family of Marine Michael Carnell. Cancer took him from his family just three months ago. Still, his wife Gabby and their children wanted to be here.
Michael Carnell would always wear a heavy chain around his neck with 22 iron links representing the estimated 22 veterans who take their own lives each day in the U.S. His teenage son wore the same chain to the weekend Carry The Load events at Reverchon Park.
"Since Michael is so amazing, we just keep honoring who he is because I know that's who he would want us to see continuing moving forward," Gabby Carnell said.
Military personnel will tell you that a warrior dies twice: the second time when we stop saying their names. That's why, to the thousands who continue to crowd into Reverchon Park, Memorial Day matters.
"Just keep watching over us," Gabby Carnell said of her thoughts this Memorial Day for her husband Michael. "And we miss him. But we're so proud of how strong he is."
And, with all this help, how strong they all will continue to be.