PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — An Army veteran is asking people to remember the brave men and women protecting our freedom this Memorial Day.
Yvette Malpartdia has two big signs that read "land of the free" and "because of the brave" that sit outside her Castleworks Lane house.
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In front of those signs, there are 38 crosses with pictures of men and women who served with Malpartida. Sadly, they didn't make it back home.
"They made the ultimate sacrifice," she said.
Malpartida said she put the memorial up in her front yard to make sure we all remember the true reason for Memorial Day.
"It's not about the cookouts or parties," she said. "It's about these men and women and so many others."
Malpartida spent 18-and-a-half years in the Army because she wanted to serve her country. She had to retire early because she was wounded.
But if you asked her if she regrets her decision to join the army, she says no.
"I needed to grow up. That's what the Army did for me," she said.
Malpartida is asking that we all take a few minutes this weekend, and on Memorial Day, to remember the 38 men and women in her front yard and the millions of others who died protecting our freedom.
