VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Even if the chalk she uses will eventually fade, the names Carla Serex writes with it live forever at the Virginia Beach oceanfront.
"I've learned not to fight back the tears, to just let them flow," Serex said.
She keeps a list that she adds a name to every year. For 2021, it's a list with 18 names on it.
“For those that are left behind, it’s nice to know that people do remember," Serex told 13News Now.
On Monday, Serex continued a Memorial Day tradition she's upheld for 17 years now and counting: a memorial run in honor of a fallen United States military hero, through the organization and foundation "wear blue: run to remember." Each year honors a different veteran, but she makes sure she remembers the names of every one she's ever memorialized.
Wear blue is a running-based non-profit organization that uses running and local communities to support military and veteran families. This year, Serex ran 3.1 miles in honor of Lance Corporal Terry Perko, who was killed in action on February 21, 1967, during the Vietnam war.
Her Memorial Day runs are normally alongside other wear blue community members running in the name of someone else too, but this year's run remained virtual due to the COVID-pandemic.
“The tears flow as I’m doing this, thinking about what they gave," Serex said, chalking the names of the veterans she's run for in the past.
As she chalked the names near 35th Street in Virginia Beach, one name is always written first: her late husband U.S. Navy Lieutenant Ricky Serex.
“He was flying a training mission in the mountains of West Virginia. The fog came in that day, they had no visuals in the aircraft, and the jet slammed into a mountain," Serex said.
At the time, he left behind both Carla and a young daughter. Years later, the wear blue community has helped Serex to heal, and help pay back what others have paid for this country.
“Memorial Day is much more magnified, it’s not just him. It’s so many others. You think about those families left behind, you feel it one hundred times more.”
More information can be found on the organization's website.