Carry the Load will host its Dallas Memorial March to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, May 24.
Anja Schlein/Special Contributor
Signs of remembrance at the 2025 Carry the Load Memorial May March honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom in Dallas Texas May 25, 2025.
Anja Schlein/Special Contributor
Supporters of the veterans group 22KILL take a group photo.
Famuily photo
For years, Andy Nguyen’s family walked Carry The Load because he showed them why it mattered.
This year, they will walk because of him.
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Nguyen, a Marine Corps veteran who helped start the veteran suicide awareness organization 22KILL, died April 22, two days before he would have turned 46, according to his cousin, Thy Detten. His death by suicide has left relatives grieving the loss of a father, son, brother, cousin and friend whose life’s work centered on helping others believe they mattered.
Andy Nguyen, founder of the veterans support organization 22KILL passed away April 22 at age 45. His family members will walk in his honor at Sunday’s Carry the Load March.
Family photo
“It was a huge, huge loss for all of us,” Detten said. “His whole mission in life was to be that person that people could lean on and depend on. Unfortunately, we realized that he himself probably needed more saving than the people that he did save.”
Nguyen’s family plans to honor him this weekend at Carry The Load’s Dallas Memorial March, a 20-hour Memorial Day weekend event at Reverchon Park and along the Katy Trail. The Dallas-based nonprofit’s signature event draws families, veterans, first responders and supporters who walk to remember those who died in service or as a result of their service.
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For Nguyen’s family, the walk is no longer only a tradition. It has become part of the first steps through a fresh grief.
“We’re walking because we lost our cousin, but the community itself lost a veteran,” Detten said.
Nguyen joined the Marine Corps in 2003, two years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Detten said. He was the first in their family to serve, later followed by his brother and another relative.
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At the time, Detten was 18 and remembered thinking it was “the coolest thing” to have a Marine in the family. Over time, she said, the family came to understand how deeply Nguyen saw service as part of his purpose.
Thy Detten (right) with her siblings AD Truong and Thae Florendo at a 2015 Carry the Load event.
Familyphoto
“He wanted to protect our country and fight for our country,” she said. “It was something that he wanted to do to challenge himself.”
After leaving the military, Nguyen grew concerned by how often he was hearing about veterans dying by suicide, Detten said. In 2012, he helped start 22KILL, a Dallas-area organization that sought to raise awareness and connect veterans to support. The group’s name reflected a widely cited estimate at the time about the number of veterans dying by suicide each day.
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The organization became nationally known through the 22 push-up challenge, a social media campaign that asked people to do push-ups to raise awareness of veteran suicide. In 2020, 22KILL transitioned to One Tribe Foundation, expanding its work to support veterans, first responders and their families through traditional and nontraditional mental wellness programs.
“He didn’t want to be the person to stand by and just watch it all happen,” Detten said. “He wanted to do something. He wanted to fix it. He wanted to help.”
She described Nguyen as the kind of person who pushed others to see their own worth.
“He was always your biggest cheerleader,” she said. “He was just a motivational person.”
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His death has forced the family to sit with a painful contradiction.
“I think that’s been the hardest part for our family,” Detten said. “He created this organization and saved countless lives through it. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t save himself.”
Kaphie Wood, chief operating officer for Carry The Load, said the Dallas Memorial March is meant to give families a place to carry that kind of loss alongside others who understand it.
Carry The Load was founded in Dallas in 2011 by two Navy SEALs who missed friends who did not come home from war, Wood said. The organization now hosts events throughout the year, including Memorial May, a 9/11 day of service and Veterans Day activities.
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Walkers embark on the Memorial March for last year’s Carry the Load event in Dallas.
Anja Schlein/Special Contributor
“This is really an event for the public,” Wood said. “If you’re the least bit curious, come out to see and show appreciation and gratitude for those that serve and put their lives on the line for us.”
This weekend’s event will include more than 800 storyboards placed around Reverchon Park and along the Katy Trail, Wood said. Each board was submitted by a family member or loved one to honor someone who died in the line of duty, was killed in action or died as a result of service.
The event begins Sunday, with gates opening at noon at Reverchon Park. Opening ceremonies begin at 4 p.m., followed by the start of the walk along the Katy Trail at 4:30 p.m. A silent midnight walk is scheduled for 11:59 p.m., and closing ceremonies are set for 11 a.m. Monday. The event is scheduled to end at 1 p.m.
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Wood said some people walk the full 20 hours. Others come for one lap, one ceremony or a few moments in front of a storyboard.
“For those that are hurting, I hope they find some relief,” Wood said. “For those that have lost people, I hope that they find a little bit of pride that their family member or loved one was remembered.”
Detten said this will be her fifth time attending Carry The Load, but this year’s walk feels different. Her family has created a team in Nguyen’s honor and already reached its fundraising goal. Relatives are planning to wear something that carries his name, initials or photo.
“Fundraising this year is important to me because it helps turn grief into purpose,” Detten said. “It is a way to keep my cousin’s memory alive, support programs that help veterans, and remind people that no one should carry hardship alone.”
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The group will include cousins, siblings, spouses, friends and others who knew Nguyen or were touched by his work.
“Carry The Load is really about carrying your loved ones, carrying their memory, carrying their legacy,” Detten said. “It’s to still keep them alive, even though they’re not physically here with us anymore.”
Wood said 93% of donations to Carry The Load go directly toward programs including awareness, education and nonprofit partner support..This year, the organization has 30 nonprofit partners, including groups that provide mental health support, service animals, outdoor therapy, transition services and other resources for veterans, first responders and their families.
Wood said events such as the Dallas march can be especially meaningful for people who feel isolated in grief.
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“For a veteran, I think it’s healing,” Wood said. “That brotherhood and sisterhood is something that a lot of people miss.”
Carry the Load hosted a 20-hour Memorial Day march to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, May 25, 2025.
Anja Schlein/Special Contributor
Detten said Nguyen’s death has changed how her family thinks about checking in on one another.
People who are struggling can say they are OK, she said, even when they are not. Nguyen’s death, she said, is a reminder to ask more than once and pay closer attention, especially to those who spend their lives helping others.
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“You can tell them all day long to reach out, find those resources,” Detten said. “I think it’s more about checking in with those people.”
Nguyen is survived by two children.
Detten said she hopes people remember Nguyen not only for his service, but for the person he was to those closest to him — a devoted dad, son, brother, cousin and friend.
“He did leave a huge legacy with all the lives that he touched,” she said.
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Resource note
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Veterans can press 1 after calling 988 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
One Tribe Foundation, which supports veterans, law enforcement officers, first responders and their families, can be reached at 214-462-7229 or 1tribefoundation.org.
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More information about Carry The Load’s Dallas Memorial March, including registration and the full schedule, is available at carrytheload.org.