(NewsNation) — Thousands of Americans are expected to visit Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, this Memorial Day weekend to pay their respects the men and women who sacrificed their lives defending the United States.
While some use the holiday to relax off from work, the day is meant to honor the soldiers’ lives that were lost.
Memorial Day is every day for Holly Baker and her family, she told NewsNation’s “Morning in America with Hena Doba” on Sunday.
Sgt. Brian K. Baker died during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. Following his first tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brian and his wife Amy became pregnant with twins, who are now 20 years old. They never had a chance to meet their father.
“They do know their dad is a hero,” Baker said, crediting her daughter-in-law, Amy, for helping raise the two girls. “We’ve shared with them a lot of Brian’s history, the places he’d like to go to where he went to school.”
Brian was part of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York.
“I had asked him after his first deployment, I said, ‘Are they really happy that you’re over there?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely not.’ He said they absolutely loved having the soldiers there to help defend their country. They found them as their saviors,” Baker said.
Baker said she remembers Brian’s smile, practical jokes and charming personality.
“Gold Star families’ worst fear is that our children’s sacrifices are forgotten, and Memorial Day is that day set aside that we remember all of our heroes who gave their lives and sacrificed so much for our country,” Baker said.