FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Remembering all those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in protection of the nation is the load that those who live on carry. Fort Cavazos recognized Carry the Load, a nonprofit organization that goes above and beyond to honor the fallen, in a ceremony May 23 at the 1st Cavalry Division Horse Detachment at the installation.
Carry the Load was founded in 2011 by two Navy special operations forces Sailors, or SEALs, who were compelled to honor their fellow Sailors they lost while on active duty. The organization conducts a month-long tribute for fallen military members and first responders in May, with five different groups walking five routes across America — the West Coast, Mountain States, Midwest, New England and East Coast — that all come together to meet in Dallas for the two-day Memorial March.
“We cover all 48 continental states and about 20,000 miles combined,” said Hunter Lovelace, assistant relay manager and media liaison for the West Coast.
Discovering Carry the Load was life-changing, Lovelace said.
“My first day on the Midwest route, we had five Gold Star Families … and speaking to those families just immediately put an imprint on me and put the exclamation point on why we are out here,” Lovelace explained.
Air Force veteran and former Dallas Police Department officer Miguel Sarmiento carries a backpack while walking with Carry the Load, but said it’s not about the physical weight he carries.
“I’ve got a ruck, but to me the ruck is symbolic because Carry the Load is more than just how much weight you have, it’s who you’re carrying for,” Sarmiento said. “And, a lot of times, that’s even heavier than a 30-pound ruck.”
Along with the name and information of his nephew, Army Spc. Thomas Garces, who died while on deployment to Iraq in 2004 with the Texas National Guard; Senior Cpl. Norman Smith, a fellow fallen DPD officer, and Jonah Hernandez, a fallen Las Cruces Police Department officer, Sarmiento wears death statistics of police officers on his backpacks for people to see and to “carry the load.”
“… I want to make sure nobody forgets so I carry their names,” Sarmiento said, “and I carry as many people as I can on my backpack.”
The West Coast group stopped by Fort Cavazos, where the Great Place took the time to thank them for their efforts and dedication. The ceremony included an invocation from retired Maj. Gen. Robert L. Halverson, words from guest presenter retired Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk I and a playing of the national anthem and other music by retired Sgt. Maj. Morris Hickman and retired Staff Sgt. Carl Hutchens.
“It’s an absolute honor to be here today and participate in this (ceremony),” said Command Sgt. Maj. Calvin Hall, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos command sergeant major. “I would like to personally thank the Carry the Load organization for celebrating and honoring the sacrifices made by our nation’s military, law enforcement, fire fighters, rescue personnel and, most importantly, their families.”
“The two-day rally in Dallas celebrates our nation’s heroes, remembers our fallen but, most importantly, unites us as a community committed to a common purpose: to never forget — to never forget those who’ve paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom,” Hall added. “Thank you again for your support and allowing Fort Cavazos and the 1st Cavalry Division Horse Detachment team to be a part of this meaningful event. Never quit, never forget, always remember.
Colton Morrow, an ambassador for Carry the Load, thanked Fort Cavazos for hosting the West Coast group.
“You don’t do it for the buzz,” Morrow said. “You don’t do it to say, ‘Yay, us.’ We do it for the ones who never came home. One of the hardest things to hear is ‘on behalf of a grateful nation.’ We owe it to them and their families to show up and say thank you and never let these people be forgotten.”
The ceremony was followed by lunch and refreshments provided by a local chapter of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, who also escorted the West Coast group’s travel bus onto the installation.
“This is the least we can do,” said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Bruce McMillan, senior road captain for CVMA Chapter 23-5. “For us being veterans this is our … wind therapy. It lets us feel free and, also, to honor what we’re doing so anything that has to with veterans and first responders, this is something that we do naturally.”
For more information on Carry the Load, go to https://www.carrytheload.org/.
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