LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Sunday was the 14th annual Survivor’s Day at the Races at Churchill Downs. It’s one of the largest annual events in the nation for Gold Star families, paying tribute to fallen military members from all branches of service.

Gold Star families from across the country are able to enjoy a day of horse racing from Millionaire’s Row, while honoring the loved ones they lost in active military service.

“Everybody’s standing out there honoring the ones they’ve lost, and with all the noise and the cheering and the flag waiving, they can express that,” said veteran and Gold Star father Mark Roland.

Roland is a retired U.S Air Force colonel who served in the Air Force for 30 years.

His son, Matthew, joined the Air Force Academy and went on to become an Air Force special tactics officer. He was killed in action in 2015 during a deployment to Afghanistan.

For Gold Star parents like Roland, Survivor’s Day is a chance to connect with others who understand his loss.

“It gives other families, all of us who have suffered the loss of a loved one who served in the military, the opportunity to share, the opportunity to be in the same room with people who understand each other,” Roland said.

Lynn Romans’ son, Sergeant Darrin Potter, lost his life serving with the Kentucky Army National Guard in Iraq in 2003.

According to Kentucky Survivor Outreach Services, he is one of around 113 Kentucky military service members that have given their lives in active service since 9/11.

At the time of his death, Potter was the first Kentucky guardsman killed in action since the Vietnam War. Romans says she found a community among other Gold Star families after his death.

She now works on U.S Congressman Morgan McGarvey’s staff as a Green and Gold Congressional Aide, working with military and veteran constituents.

“Having other people that can kind of feel that same loss, even though the deaths are very different, and having those people to reach out to is just very important,” Romans said.

Since 9/11, nearly 20,000 Kentucky National Guard soldiers and airmen have deployed in support of the Global War on Terror. The Kentucky National Guard currently has more than 250 soldiers and airmen deployed worldwide.

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