The Gold Star Memorial Day Parade was front and center on Broadway in Downtown Columbia on Memorial Day after a six-year hiatus.

Hundreds gathered along Broadway on Monday morning to honor and remember military heroes and their families.

The title "Gold Star" is reserved for families of military members who died in the line of duty. It is meant to honor the service member's ultimate sacrifice while acknowledging their family's loss, grief and continued healing.

Anna Johnson attended the parade and had numerous family members who had served in the military. She said Memorial Day is a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by service members.

'I appreciate the fact they are willing to do what some of us are not and that they have the courage and are willing to fight for our country, could never thank them enough," Johnson said.

Former Boone County Commissioner Linda Vogt is a Gold Star family member and lost her brother, Ralph R. Quick, during the Vietnam War in 1970. He left for Vietnam on Dec. 5, 1969, and lost his life on March 23, 1970.

“He died the day before his 23rd birthday in Vietnam,” Vogt said. “It was very difficult for our family. We’re proud he served, he wanted to serve. He wanted to be a helicopter pilot, and so he did get to do that, killed him, but he got to do that."

Vogt said her brother fought tirelessly to join the military, despite medical issues that initially kept him out.

“He broke his neck trying to get into the service because he had problems with sinuses, and they wouldn’t take him,” she said.

Quick left behind a wife and a 2-year-old daughter, Vogt said.

“She had to grow up fatherless. But with all that being said, we still had a lot of pride in the fact that he wanted to serve our country,” Vogt said. “In all honesty, my family is kind of a family of public service.”

When Memorial Day comes around, Vogt says it is a painful reminder that her brother is no longer here.

Vogt says her family was the only way she was able to cope with the loss of her baby brother. She said taking care of her children helped her get through the grief.

Meredith Black also attended the parade and was glad to see it return after several years. Her father was a captain in the Marine Corps during World War II.

"They have made the ultimate scarify and their families have lost someone who was very near and dear to them and just seeing the cars go by today of the Gold Star families and the little children who were part of it, it's heartbreaking but it makes us realize how grateful we need to be for those who have sacrificed so much," Black said.

"My husband's great, great, great uncle, he was 19 years old in World War I in France, and he was killed in action, but he was returned home to the United States and is buried near his mother in Oklahoma," Black added.