In San Antonio, neighbors and veterans gathered Sunday for a two-mile memorial walk that began at VFW Post 76 and was led by the JP Morgan San Antonio Veterans Business Resource Group; at least 600 people took part as the city prepared for Memorial Day weekend, and voices like Mark Owens and Manuel Donias shared why the event mattered to them.
The mood along the route was quiet but steady, a mix of conversation and contemplation that moved through city streets with purpose. Organizers said the walk was part of a larger national Carry the Load movement, and local volunteers and company groups made sure the pace, route and safety were planned so people could focus on remembrance. Families, coworkers and service members walked side by side, trading memories and offering quiet support to one another as they kept time with each step.
JP Morgan’s San Antonio Veterans Business Resource Group took the lead on logistics and outreach, reaching into company networks and the community to bring people together. The BRG’s role meant there were clear meeting points and a visible presence at VFW Post 76 to welcome participants and outline the two-mile route. That corporate-community partnership helped translate a national campaign into something tangible here in San Antonio, giving employees and residents a place to honor the fallen.
Mark Owens, a JP Morgan SA Vets BRG lead, said the walk carries a personal meaning for him. “I’ve lost a soldier, you know, in 2005, Sergeant Maraviosa, she passed away on Christmas Eve,” Owens said. “Her family got notified on Christmas Day, and it’s those that stay with you and everyone else that’s fallen before you, that stays with you. That’s what this is all about. It’s honoring our veterans, honoring our fallen.” His words landed with people who had known similar losses, and they reminded everyone why the march was more than a ritual.
Another organizer, BRG lead Manuel Donias, made his tribute physical by carrying extra weight in his pack to represent comrades he could not forget. “It’s for people that I knew, that I served with, and also first responders that I served with as well, too, that have lost their life in the line of duty,” Donias said. “So in my honor, I carry them. That’s what Carry the Load means: to carry the person that is no longer with us.” His method turned grief into action, and others followed with their own symbolic burdens or quiet reflections.
The event’s timing, just ahead of Memorial Day weekend, gave it a sharper edge for many who used the walk to reconnect with memories that surface each year. Veterans and civilians alike said the walk served as a transitional ritual, moving from a personal space of remembrance into the public cadence of holiday weekend observances. For some, the path itself became a kind of conversation—about service, about loss, about the small things that link people across time and uniform.
Those who attended described volunteers and local groups offering support at checkpoints and handing out water, while members of the VFW welcomed participants at the start. Children and older veterans walked together, and the mix of ages underlined how Memorial Day touches multiple generations. People lingered when the walk finished, exchanging names and stories instead of rushing off, and that slower pace let the event feel less like a quick obligation and more like a meaningful act of community.
Carry the Load’s emphasis on active remembrance — walking, carrying weight, speaking names — was visible in San Antonio’s turnout and in how people chose to honor specific individuals. The walk provided structure to grief and created space for public testimony, whether through shared silence, the telling of a single anecdote, or the simple act of walking shoulder to shoulder. As the city moved toward Memorial Day, the event left a clear impression that honoring service can be both a communal responsibility and a personal one.
