Monday is Memorial Day. For many people, it is a day off work and the unofficial start of summer. But the day means so much more.

An organization called "Carry The Load" is working to restore the true meaning of Memorial Day. In the video above, Earl Denham of Tifton, a retired U.S. Air Force major, talks about his fallen friend Hulus Key Jr., who was killed in Vietnam.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has gotten behind the Carry The Load effort. The Carry The Load National Relay has a team of folks from around the country walking 2,000 miles, starting from West Point, N.Y., on April 29 and ending in in Dallas, Texas, on May 25 to help bring attention to their cause.

Dill Driscoll, dean of ABAC's Stafford School of Business, along with seven ABAC students and Placement Coordinator Lyndsey Walters have been with the Relay since its beginning.

Carry The Load began a few years ago when former Navy SEAL and war veteran Clint Bruce attended a barbecue on Memorial Day. As he thought about his friends he lost in combat, he noticed that the people around him had a different view of what Memorial Day meant. To some it was a party. To others, a day off of work. 

Bruce came up with a way to honor his fallen brethren and share in the pain that they went through to give us our freedom. He decided to do what he did most when he was protecting our country alongside the buddies he lost. Bruce strapped on his pack and began walking, all the while thinking about the guys who sacrificed for him. 

As he walked, he encountered another veteran, an older man who knew exactly why and exactly what Bruce was doing without either of them speaking a word. The man simply said, "Son, who are you carrying?" 

With those five words, Carry The Load was born. Since then, it has been Clint Bruce's and fellow Navy SEAL veteran Stephen Holley's mission to restore the true meaning of Memorial Day and connect Americans to the sacrifices of our military, law enforcement, firefighters and rescue personnel.

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