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Carry The Load relay makes three stops in Bakersfield in honor of veterans who gave their lives

May 8, 2024

Bakersfield News

By: Steven Mayer

Bakersfield resident Daniel Cazarez served two tours as a U.S. Marine in what he called “the sandbox,” the war in Iraq, with the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, known as the Wolf Pack.

“That’s kind of what I was here representing,” he said Wednesday. “Our guys that we lost, who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Cazarez, his wife, Cecilia, and their two young children, had just walked four miles — the kids had a double-stroller to help — from Cal State Bakersfield to Sully’s Chevron on Ming Avenue near Old River Road.

It was all part of the month-long Carry The Load Memorial May campaign in which participants across the country will walk some 20,000 miles in 48 states this month to raise awareness about the true meaning of Memorial Day — and to raise dollars for veteran and first-responder causes and needs.

The nonprofit’s West Coast team was in Bakersfield Wednesday afternoon, and the Cazarez family, along with a few other locals, joined them in the walk.

The National Relay takes place all month long to raise awareness and provide active ways to connect Americans to the sacrifices made by the nation’s military veterans, first responders and their families, organizers said.

Memorial Day is dedicated to honoring and remembering the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, and it doesn’t hurt to gently remind Americans of that fact, Cazarez said.

“Sometimes we take it for granted. You know, we get stuck and busy in life,” he said, “and we put that memory in the back seat, and events like this help to put it back front and center.”

Since its inception in 2011, Carry The Load has raised more than $42 million to support its goals.

The organization’s West Coast team started in Washington state May 2 and have been working their way, and walking their way, southward ever since. Wednesday morning they were in Fresno and Clovis.

And they were behind schedule getting to Cal State Bakersfield, where the relay of about 15 participants left at 4 p.m.

The Relay consists of five routes (West Coast, Mountain States, Midwest, New England and East Coast), with teams walking throughout the 29-day Memorial May campaign. It’s an opportunity for people of all ages around the nation to honor and remember all those who have served and lost their lives because of that sacrifice.

The Dallas Memorial March, hosted over the Memorial Day weekend in Carry The Load’s hometown, is the nonprofit’s flagship event and the culmination of the National Relay.

Money raised from Memorial May goes toward supporting military, veterans, first responders, and their families so that they have access to counseling, adaptive training, suicide prevention, equine therapy, service dogs, job placements, transition, home improvements, scholarships for children, and more.

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