Carry The Load: Walk for the Fallen This Memorial Day

By CombatProse | USMC

Memorial Day is Monday, May 25. Five days. If you haven’t done something that actually honors the fallen — not the BBQ, not the mattress sale — this is your window. Carry The Load gives you a mission. Founded in 2011 by Navy SEALs Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley, it exists for one reason: to restore the true meaning of Memorial Day by making it active instead of passive. In 2026, they’re covering 11,500 miles of America with a relay that doesn’t stop until it reaches Dallas on Memorial Day weekend. If you’ve got legs, you can be part of it.

What Is Carry The Load?

Carry The Load is a Dallas-based nonprofit that since 2011 has been building events around a simple premise: you honor the fallen by moving, not sitting. Founded by two former Navy SEALs who wanted Memorial Day to mean something again, the organization raises funds for military families, veterans, first responders, and their families — the people who live with the cost of service every day.

Since founding, Carry The Load has raised over $50 million, with 93 cents of every dollar going directly to programs. The money supports nonprofits serving active military, veterans, first responders, and Gold Star families.

The signature events are the National Relays — multi-week walking relays that cross the country and converge on Dallas for the Memorial Day March. In 2026, for the first time, the relay added a new Midwest route starting in Minneapolis, alongside the traditional East Coast and West Coast routes.

Carry The Load Memorial May 2026: What’s Happening This Week

This week — the week you’re reading this — Carry The Load events are live across the country. The Memorial May 2026 event calendar has stops running through May 25 in cities from Indianapolis to Greensboro. Here’s what’s on the board right now:

May 20 — Indianapolis, IN (Military Park, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM)
May 20 — Gulfport, MS (US Armed Forces Retirement Home, 9:30–11:30 AM)
May 20 — Mobile, AL (USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, 3:30–5:30 PM)
May 20 — Bossier City, LA (Walker Place Park, 5:30–7:45 PM)
May 21 — Little Rock, AR (MacArthur Park, 8:00–11:00 AM)
May 21 — Pensacola, FL (Veterans Memorial Park, 2:00–4:30 PM)
May 22 — Greensboro, NC (Country Park, 8:30–10:30 AM)
May 22 — Kennedale, TX (TownCenter Park, 2:00–4:30 PM)

All events are free to attend. Registration is encouraged so organizers can plan. Find your closest stop and go.

The National Relay: 11,500 Miles

The 2026 relay covers 11,500 miles — the largest route in the event’s history. Three relay routes — East Coast, West Coast, and the new Midwest route starting in Minneapolis — all converge on Dallas for the Memorial Day March. In prior years the relay has hit 32 national cemeteries across 48 states. The flag moves continuously, team to team, city to city. You can pick it up for a leg and hand it forward.

How to Participate

Show Up to a Local Event

Pull up the Memorial May event finder and find a stop near you. Events run through Memorial Day, May 25. No cost, no gear required. Bring family. Bring a buddy who should understand what this week actually means.

Walk a Relay Leg

The relay route guide lists stops with check-in times and distances — most legs run 2–6 miles. You don’t need to do the full route. Show up for one leg, carry the flag, hand it off. That counts. If you haven’t got a stop near you, check the relay guide directly at relay.carrytheload.org for the nationwide route guide.

Fundraise or Donate

You can donate directly or set up a fundraising page on behalf of a fallen service member or Gold Star family. Every dollar goes to organizations doing real work for people who gave everything.

Why Memorial Day Needs This

Memorial Day in America has drifted. It’s become a long weekend. That’s not disrespect — it’s drift. The day was designated to honor the men and women who died in military service. Not veterans (that’s Veterans Day). Not active duty (Armed Forces Day). The fallen. The ones who didn’t come home. The ones whose families have lived every Memorial Day since with an empty seat at the table.

Carry The Load is the antidote to passive remembrance. Walking — physically moving, in public, with intention — creates a different relationship to what Memorial Day means than a cookout does. It’s not a guilt trip. It’s a recalibration. For veterans especially, getting out and moving, being part of something bigger, connecting with people who understand the weight of service — that’s not incidental. That’s community. That’s recovery.

If you want to know more about veterans getting real support and connecting with each other this week, check out our post on VA Stand Downs — fast on-ramps to real resources, no bureaucratic wait. And if you want another Memorial Day mission to stack with Carry The Load, we covered Honor Project 2026 — cemetery visits, placing commemorative tokens at headstones, built for teams.