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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — There were no parades on this Memorial Day 2021, but that did not stop people from gathering at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs to remember.

Like Brandon Wheeldon, a United States Army veteran and journalism student at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Wheeldon is also a member of Living History Colorado, a group dedicated to preserving and honoring the history and memory of the United States Armed Forces. 

Their mission is to remember, “One of the worst things that could ever happen after someone goes is to literally forget them,” said Wheeldon.

Wearing the uniform of a World War II American correspondent, Wheeldon wants to keep the memory of those lost in battle alive.

“By having a point in time where you are kind of forced to remember, it helps you remember those who are lost, regardless if you knew them or not,” said Wheeldon.

The Civil War, buffalo soldiers and World War II are all represented and remembered.

Wheeldon also remembers a friend and fellow soldier, Christopher Horton.

“He ended up going to sniper school and I ended up staying a scout. I never went to sniper school, but we ended up working on the same sniper team,” said Wheeldon.

Horton was killed in action in Afghanistan on Sept. 9, 2011.

“It’s one of those things where I try to make sure that whatever I am doing in life honors him, but also is going make him proud,” said Wheeldon.

And that, says Wheeldon, is what this day is all about. Not an event, not a place, not a flag. But a person with a name, a face and a family, like Chris Horton.