STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Retired Dallas Police Lt. Miguel Sarmiento is continually surprised by the encounters he stumbles into as he canvasses the United States carrying the names and faces of fallen police officers and veterans on his backpack.

One came after he fastened a tag bearing the name of a Las Cruces, N.M., police officer who had been killed by a drunk driver while enroute to work a few months earlier.

“Our Carry the Load bus pulled into Las Cruces and a lady with a 6-year-old came up to me and asked me how I got that card. ‘That was my husband,’ ” she said. “She thanked me for picking it up and carrying it with me. It gave me goosebumps,” he said.

Miguel Sarmiento carries statistics indicating that America has lost 2,703 police offices in the line of duty during the past 10 years and 26,605 for all time, along with information about fallen Las Cruces police officer Jonah Hernandez.

Sarmiento, a retired U.S. Air Force sergeant, was among those who pulled into Ketchum a week ago on a brightly colored bus painted with the faces of fallen heroes and the words “Carry the Load.”

The bus was one of three that set out on a journey across the United States in April headed for a big Memorial Day March in Dallas today.

With the help of Higher Ground, those on the bus joined Wood River Valley residents on a walk through Ketchum, during which marchers were supposed to think about the first responders and servicemen they were walking for.

Posters telling the stories of some of the fallen were mounted in the parking lot outside the Ketchum Fire Department in case someone could not think of someone to “carry the load” for.

Children taking part in the event organized by Higher Ground with the support of the Ketchum Fire Department got turn a fire hose on a target.

“This event is unusual in that Higher Ground tailors it to young kids so they can take part, as well,” said Sarmiento.

Sarmiento got involved with the Carry the Load after two people in his police department were killed. He said it’s not about the weight in his backpack that he walks with but who he’s carrying for.

“A lot of times, that’s heavier,” he said.

Sarmiento has carried the name and information of his nephew Army Spc. Thomas Garces, who died at 19 while serving in Iraq in 2004 with the Texas National Guard. And he’s carried the name of a former co-worker at the Dallas Police Department who was killed while trying to execute an arrest warrant.

“I carry as many people as I can on my pack,” he said.

Carry the Load was started in 2011 by Veteran Navy SEALs Clint Bruce and Stephen Holley to raise awareness and encourage people to remember the sacrifices made by those in the military.

“Their mission to enlighten and engage our nation was originally held on Memorial Day. It’s gotten so big they now do Memorial May,” said Erin Rheinschild, director of Philanthropy for Higher Ground, which provides therapeutic recreation for veterans and first responders.

“We’re trying to bring back the true meaning of Memorial Day,” said Sarmiento. “We never want to forget out loved ones.”