TAMPA, Fla. — All over the Tampa Bay area, Monday was a day to remember.
ABC Action News caught up with some of them, like Mona Burrows, the daughter of a World War II veteran, in St. Petersburg.
“We grew up just loving this country, and it means a great deal," she said.
And Ollie, the 7-year-old we met watching the Memorial Day parade in Sarasota.
“I want to honor the people who died in the war," he said.
And then, there were the Gold Star families, whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, like Dean Coleman in Tampa.
"Just say their names if you know them, to remember their names, remember what they did," he said.
K.D. Wagner is another Gold Star mother who we spoke to in Clearwater. She says for her, and so many other families like hers, every day is Memorial Day.
"He was going to college full time and in the reserves when 9/11 happened so he got called up full-time active and I assumed he'd be safe because I had lost his brother two years before in a robbery. The guy murdered him in a robbery. So in two years, I had lost everything I had lived for, for 25 years," she said.
And in the midst of those solemn memories, author and veteran, Gary King shared a message of hope for those who are struggling.
"See happiness is based on something very simple but very few people notice. It's based on living your life outside-in or inside-out. And most people live their life outside-in," said King.
MORE MEMORIAL DAY COVERAGE
