CLEARWATER, Fla. — Even from a young age, Frank Gross was destined to join the military.

  • "Memorial Day is every day in our lives," Gold Star mom says
  • Her son, Cpl. Frank Gross, was killed by IED in Afghanistan in 2011
  • Dad has written, performs a song in son's honor across the country

“We had probably a minimum of 150 G.I. Joe action figures in our house at any given time,” said Toni Gross, Frank’s mother.

So at 25, when he told his parents he was going to enlist, they weren’t surprised.

“I was very proud of Frank. I knew that that was the perfect lifestyle for Frank,” Toni Gross said.

But that pride came with some apprehension, which was something father Craig expressed to his son on the golf course just a few days before Frank was deployed to Afghanistan.

“He said, ‘Daddy, I’m going to come home.’ And he didn’t,” Craig Gross said.

It was July 2011, just three weeks after Army Cpl. Frank Gross arrived in Afghanistan, when a vehicle he was riding in hit an improvised explosive device. He was killed instantly.

“The death of a soldier is very different than any other cause of death for a family. Every soldier that dies, dies for this country. They die for the Constitution, they die for the oath that they took to uphold the Constitution,” Craig Gross said.

Now, Craig has made his own promise to keep his son’s memory alive.

He’s done that over the past eight years by performing his song, "I Buried My Son in Arlington" all over the country.

He hopes it helps people realize the sacrifices made by our soldiers overseas, especially on days like Memorial Day.

“It’s a solemn observance. We are proud of our son’s service and sacrifice. For families of the fallen, Memorial Day is every day in our lives,” Toni Gross said.