The Sunday morning sun was already warm over downtown Phoenix when a couple hundred participants gathered at the plaza outside Chase Field for a Memorial Day weekend walk to pay tribute and to remember.
The occasion was a Carry The Load event — part of a national movement that sponsors community-driven marches, fundraising, and remembrance to honor military members and first responders who have died in service to their country.
After some keynote remarks, participants set off at 10:45 a.m. on a 3.6-mile route that wound west along Jefferson Street, north up Central Avenue, across McDowell Road, and south on Seventh Street before looping back to Chase Field. Many Carry The Load and Chase participants were given tickets to that afternoon’s Diamondbacks game against the Rockies.