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Memorial Day weekend hits close to home for Garett Bolles.
The Denver Broncos offensive lineman has military roots, as his grandfather fought in the Korean War. But this holiday weekend will be the first without his grandfather, who died earlier this year.
But earlier this month, Bolles partnered with USAA in Colorado Springs for an event with over 50 local veterans who served in the Vietnam and Korean Wars, all of whom will be traveling with the Honor Flight of Southern Colorado on a trip to Washington, D.C., this weekend. The vets, many of whom have never made the trip to the nation’s capital, will all visit monuments throughout Washington.
A strong advocate for our military, Bolles spent time with each of the veterans to hear their stories, honor their service and join them in solemn remembrance of those with whom they served and who lost their lives in combat.
“It’s truly an honor and a blessing. Letting them get recognized — just being there, getting to know them, loving them on a very unconditional level, and showing them my support — has truly meant the world to me,” Bolles said to Fox News Digital. “The smiles and the facial expressions that I saw on these men and women were just priceless. Priceless moments that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
“I told every single one of them as I shook their hand that they’re the real heroes. I just wear a helmet and a jersey and they cheer me on, but those are the people that really make a difference in our world. Those men and women literally risk their lives on a regular basis just to make us safer back at home and to allow us to live in a free country. How grateful and proud we should be to truly understand that is remarkable. It’s truly amazing what these men and women do for us.”
Bolles is a self-admitted history nerd who “love[s]” learning about wars.
“Not because of what took place, but because of the stories and the fascinating things behind the wars that we’ve endured, come through, and gone through in the United States military,” Bolles added.
That’s why, for the 6’5″, 300-pound gentle giant who actually wanted to be a Navy SEAL growing up, getting face-to-face with those who went through it is an ultimate gift.
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“What’s so neat is when you get to talk to these people, and you get to open them up, and you ask them about their families, you ask them about their better half, their wife, these people are real,” an emotional Bolles recalled. “These are real people with real stories, real backgrounds, and real battle scars. These people are not just some Joe Schmo. A lot of them come from broken families. A lot come from single parents. A lot grew up in foster care…
“These people are part of our history. These people are part of who we are and how we can wake up every day and see blue skies and sun and trees and a house. We get to drive a car to work. All these things we get to do are because of the people who sacrificed their lives for us. Without those people, we would not be able to go to school. We wouldn’t be able to be free. We wouldn’t be able to eat what we want, when we want, how we want, or talk how we want. We wouldn’t be able to stand on a platform and voice our opinions. Without any of those things, the United States of America would be nothing…
“There’s so much toxic stuff in this world right now that we really need to understand the importance of Memorial Day. We live in a country where people bled for us and died for us, and we need to be grateful for the small and simple things because we’ve lost track of what’s important.”
Getting with military veterans is easy motivation for Bolles, who was named a First-team All-Pro for the first time in his nine-year career last season. His Broncos came up short in the AFC title game after Bo Nix was injured the week before, and the snow wreaked havoc, “but really, we just came up short.”
Now, after enduring seven straight losing seasons to start his career, Bolles has gotten a taste of success and is “super hungry” for the full meal.
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“There’s a reason why we didn’t bring certain people in during free agency when every single person wanted to freak out and say, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s because we have a special locker room. It has nothing to do with needing key pieces. We just have a special locker room with special people in there, and when you bring the wrong guys in, it destroys that and becomes a toxic environment. You can’t win football games in a toxic environment. Trust me — I’ve done seven years of that,” Bolles said.
“The Denver Broncos are full of winners. They’re full of dogs. We have a culture that’s really hard to beat. There are so many other teams around the country that want to see what we do and how we do it — how we train, how we take care of our bodies. We’re building a brand-new facility with a world-renowned training center. You can’t beat it. Our owners are unbelievable, we have the best GM in football, we have the best head coach, we have the best coaches under his staff. I’m just grateful to be a Denver Bronco, and I’m excited for this upcoming season.”
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