Members of Dallas Firefighters Pipes and Drums lead the walk during Carry The Load, a memorial march to honor, remember and carry the legacy of the nation’s heroes at Reverchon Park, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Hundreds of participants gathered Sunday at Reverchon Park for Carry The Load’s annual Dallas Memorial March, walking past rows of flags and story boards bearing the names and faces of fallen service members, veterans and first responders.
Many participants walked with pictures, names and signs honoring loved ones they came to remember. Some carried the memory of relatives killed in combat. Others walked for veterans, first responders and family members whose lives were forever shaped by service.
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Participants walk through Reverchon Park during Carry The Load, a memorial march to honor, remember and carry the legacy of the nation’s heroes, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Shelley Kelly of Sanger, Texas, from left, who is wearing her husband Eric Kelly’s T-shirt, stands with her daughters Skyler Kelly, 14, and Samantha Kelly, 21, during the opening ceremony of the Carry The Load, a memorial march to honor, remember and carry the legacy of the nation’s heroes, at Reverchon Park, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Selena Warden of Dallas holds a Marine Corps’ flag during the opening ceremony of the Carry The Load, a memorial march to honor, remember and carry the legacy of the nation’s heroes, at Reverchon Park, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Members of Dallas Firefighters Pipes and Drums lead the walk during Carry The Load, a memorial march to honor, remember and carry the legacy of the nation’s heroes, at Reverchon Park, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
The two-day event, now in its 15th year, is Carry The Load’s signature march and asks participants a question that has guided the Dallas-born organization since its beginning: Who are you carrying?
For co-founder Stephen Holley, the answer began with friends he and fellow Navy SEAL veteran Clint Bruce lost after serving with them.
Holley said the idea took shape in 2010, when Bruce put on a backpack and walked around White Rock Lake. During the walk, Holley said, an older man they believe may have been a World War II or Korean War veteran asked Bruce, “Who are you carrying?”
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“That was kind of the catalyst for what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, walking in memory of good friends,” Holley said.
What began with about 500 participants in Dallas has grown into more than 75 events that take place across the country in the days leading up to the Memorial Day holiday, Holley said.
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“Never could we have imagined the growth that we’ve had,” Holley said.
Holley said the organization struck a chord with people who wanted Memorial Day to be about more than a long weekend.
“I think we struck a nerve with the 99 percent wanting for Memorial Day to be more than just a three-day weekend, a sale somewhere and a barbecue,” Holley said. “These events give people the opportunity to come out and learn a story and put a face with a name or a statistic.”
Related: Memorial Day in D-FW: What to do this long weekend
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Bad weather and lightning at the site delayed the event Sunday, but Carry The Load officials said the march would resume when weather permits and continue into Memorial Day.
Across Reverchon Park, some walked for relatives killed in combat. Others carried the names of veterans and first responders who died by suicide, in accidents or from illnesses tied to their service.
Charla Truesdale, co-founder and president of Warrior Spirit Project, said she was carrying several names Sunday.
Truesdale said she walked for her husband’s grandfather, who was killed in the line of duty as a police officer in Pawtucket, Rhode Island; a friend who died while serving as an Illinois state trooper; and veterans and first responders whose families could not attend.
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She also walked for her brother-in-law, Bruce, a Vietnam Marine who died this past year from complications related to Agent Orange exposure.
“They did sign on the dotted line,” Truesdale said. “They did step forward. They did agree to take on the risks of serving. And they gave everything, and we need to remember that.”
Truesdale’s nonprofit organization known as Warrior Spirit Project, provides free trauma-informed yoga, meditation and other programs for veterans, first responders and their families. She said although the work is not therapy, it can be therapeutic.
She recalled one veteran who took a class at the Dallas VA and later said it was the best thing he had done for his post-traumatic stress since Vietnam. After the pandemic disrupted in-person classes, Truesdale said, the man called to say he had used breathing techniques from the class to help his wife through an MRI.
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“We’ve just been able to watch the transformation in those individuals,” Truesdale said. “We consider them family.”
As she walked past the story boards Sunday, Truesdale said she thought about the lives behind the names.
Participants walk through Reverchon Park during Carry The Load, a memorial march to honor, remember and carry the legacy of the nation’s heroes, Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
“When I’m walking and I read the stories on those story boards, or I’m walking with somebody and I talk with them and hear their story, I really feel the pain,” Truesdale said. “Not because I’ve experienced what they’ve experienced, but I can experience emotions, and I can feel those emotions coming from them.”
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The march also included members of the Dallas Fire Fighters Association Auxiliary, who walked in honor of fallen Dallas firefighters and their families.
Darilyn Krempin, a member of the auxiliary, said the group carried four pike poles bearing firefighters’ names, family names and the dates they died. About 50 people were expected to participate with the group over the two-day event, she said.
“This is our 12th year,” Krempin said. “There’s no words to describe it. It’s just a time where we get to come together and remember and honor and cherish our loved ones.”
Krempin said the event gives families a chance to tell stories, laugh, cry and take photos together while keeping the memory of their loved ones alive.
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“It’s just an awesome event,” Krempin said.
Among the participants was Sharon Keppers, who said she has returned to the march year after year because she wants people to remember the meaning of Memorial Day.
Keppers walked for Marc Lee, a Navy SEAL who was killed in Iraq in 2006. She said she does not have immediate family in the military but has long supported veterans and service members, including through volunteer work with the USO.
“I do this because of the true meaning of Memorial Day,” Keppers said.
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In earlier years, Keppers said, she walked as many as 13 miles. Now, she walks part of the route, returns for closing ceremonies and helps carry signs honoring the fallen.
“As you’re walking, you’re looking at all the pictures and thinking, ‘Look how young he was,’” Keppers said.
Holley said he hopes people leave the march with gratitude for those who died in service to the country and with a better understanding of the families, veterans and first responders still carrying grief.
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For those who have lost loved ones or are watching someone struggle after service, Holley said the message is simple.
“There’s a community that cares,” Holley said. “Isolation is not a good place to be.”