Carry The Load
A national march that converges on Dallas every Memorial Day, founded to restore meaning to the day.
Along the Katy Trail leading into Reverchon Park, storyboards tell the stories of fallen service members and first responders, their names, their units, the acts of bravery that cost them their lives. Families pick their storyboard up off the trail and carry it into the park as part of the closing ceremony, the physical act the event is named for. Carry The Load was founded in 2011 by two Navy SEALs who felt Memorial Day had drifted from its original purpose, and what started as a small march in Dallas has grown into a national movement that draws marchers from cities across the country, all converging on Reverchon Park for Memorial Day weekend.
Carry The Load was founded in Dallas in 2011 by Navy SEALs Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley. The National March brings teams marching continuously from multiple cities across the country, converging on Dallas at Reverchon Park for a multi-day Memorial Day weekend gathering that runs the length of the Katy Trail. Roughly 25 nonprofit partner organizations set up tables on-site to share their missions with marchers throughout the event. ESW manages full event operations for the Dallas convergence, the largest single production point in the national program, and also supports the surrounding Memorial May community march programming.
Carry The Load began in 2011 as a grassroots march in Dallas. The founders were Navy SEALs who wanted Memorial Day to feel like something again, a day of active remembrance rather than a long weekend. Over the years that followed, it grew into a national march format: teams start continuous marches from cities on the East Coast, West Coast, and South, carrying their loads through communities over several days before converging in Dallas. Due to Carry The Load's growing national reach, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognized Memorial May as a national observance in 2024, the same year the organization's community marches expanded to dozens of cities nationwide as a Combined Federal Campaign participant (CFC #20469). Severe weather has twice tested the Dallas convergence: in 2025, storms forced an early end to the event, and in 2026, weather again moved through mid-march, but the team's contingency planning held the site together well enough to hold the closing ceremony the next day, once conditions cleared.
Press Coverage
FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth
North Texans honor fallen heroes on Memorial Day
"Memorial Day coverage featuring Carry The Load's Dallas convergence."
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Carry the Load marks 15 years of honoring fallen heroes in Dallas
"Thousands of participants at the 15th annual Dallas event, up from ~500 at the inaugural."
WFAA
Carry the Load returns to Dallas this Memorial Day weekend to honor the fallen
"Reverchon Park hosts the annual convergence for the national relay."
The Dallas Morning News
Carry the Load to close Dallas roads on Memorial Day. Here's what to know.
"An annual 20-hour event, founded 2011 by two veterans."
Having partnered with ESW for several years, I have consistently found their professionalism, organization, communication, and event execution to be of the highest standard. The entire staff continually demonstrates a 'can-do' spirit and total dedication to the mission of every project.
Producing the Dallas convergence for a multi-day national relay.
The Carry The Load Dallas convergence is, functionally, a 20-hour continuous operation: aid stations along the Katy Trail have to stay staffed and stocked overnight, on-site camping needs its own support, and security and event staff are on the ground for the full duration, not just daylight hours. It requires a sustained operational presence, not a single race-day push. When severe weather has moved through mid-event, in both 2025 and 2026, the team's standing contingency plan is what let organizers make fast, safety-first calls, and in 2026 that planning was strong enough to bring the closing ceremony back the following day rather than lose it. Every element of the site is in service of the people participating and the names they are carrying.
Key Project Leads
“When you watch participants walking through the middle of the night, carrying the memory of a lost friend or loved one, it completely shifts your perspective on what we do. A 20-hour event requires a rock solid production strategy, but our crew understands that the infrastructure we build is entirely secondary to the tribute happening on the pavement. For over a decade, it's been our greatest privilege to handle the operational heavy lifting. We take on the logistical burdens behind the scenes so that every family member, veteran, and supporter can focus solely on honoring their fallen heroes.”
“Converging dozens of agencies, vendors, and nonprofit partners for a continuous 20-hour memorial requires intense operational command, but it's the profound purpose of this event that truly drives our team. Our job is to absorb all the logistical friction. When you stand at the opening and closing ceremonies and physically feel the overwhelming weight of what this weekend means to the families and veterans, you realize exactly why the operational details matter so much. We manage the rapid-fire variables entirely behind the scenes so the marchers never have to break their stride, and the reverence of the mission is never interrupted.”
“Building the physical footprint for a memorial this significant requires a massive amount of coordination. My job is to ensure every piece of infrastructure is perfectly placed and secure before the opening ceremonies even begin. We build out a highly complex, active site, but our ultimate goal is to make it feel completely seamless and respectful. We want participants to step onto the grounds and feel supported, so they can focus entirely on their tribute without a single distraction.”
ESW manages full production of Carry The Load's Dallas convergence, the single site within the national program that falls under our scope. We handle site setup, arrival coordination, volunteer management, partner village logistics, and day-of support at Reverchon Park.
25
Nonprofit Partner Organizations
Tabling on-site throughout the convergence to share their missions with marchers
20-Hour
Continuous Operation
Aid stations, camping support, and security staffed without interruption for the full convergence
Dozens
Cities With Community Marches
Community marches produced nationwide each year
2024
VA Federal Recognition
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognized Memorial May as a national observance
Once you do it the first time, you can start talking about those individuals, and you keep their spirit alive, and that's the most important part about this walk.
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