100-year-old veteran on the true meaning of Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, Americans honor those men and women who lost their lives while serving our country, but the holiday is so much more than that for a 100-year-old veteran from Round Rock

Robert Sanchez’s home is covered in memories from his time during and following his service including his prized possession: his medals. 

"I'm a veteran of World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War. I spent 30 years in the military. I'm very proud, very proud of [my medals]. Some of these are medals not everyone has," said Sanchez.

On Memorial Day, Sanchez has a lot on his mind. 

"When you have special days like this one, of course, you think more about it. We had good times, we had bad times, of course. We learned to deal with the situation when it happened."

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP

Robert Sanchez’s home is covered in memories from his time during and following his service including his prized possession: his medals. 

SIGN UP FOR FOX 7 AUSTIN EMAIL ALERTS

Memorial Day is a federal holiday meant to honor the men and women who lost their lives fighting for our county. To Sanchez, that means honoring his friends. 

"I had friends that I lost. In fact, most of my crew is gone. I'm the only member of the crew that left. I think about them often, and I think about those that I knew that were there during the war, you know? It's not something you can forget easily," said Sanchez.

Sanchez says it's important to remember those lost, but sometimes catches himself dwelling too much on it which he says can be harmful. "I think of them, not that I think about what I went through\, but what they went through. Those that didn't come back, that became the real wounded. I was very fortunate. I was never wounded."

On Memorial Day, and every other day for that matter, people can find an American flag flying outside his home to honor those who lost their lives.

"I think that the heroes are not people like myself or stuff like that, the heroes of these people that gave their lives," said Sanchez.