Memorial Day In America

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Veteran's Day, on November 11th, is when we remember all  soldiers of all wars  all over the world and dwell on the sadness and futility of war.

Memorial Day is something different.  It is when we come together as Americans to remember our own fallen troops.  It started after the Civil War-- a war which tore families apart and killed an entire generation of young American men as brother fought brother over" States Rights"  and the Abolition of Slavery"

What is now Memorial Day started  in the late 1860's, right after the end of the Civil War.  Families who had lost sons, brothers, husbands and fathers went to the cemetery  and placed flowers and flags not just on the graves of their own dead, but also on the graves of enemy soldiers buried there.  This was done first at Arlington National Cemetery and then replicated around the nation in both North and South.  It was a healing gesture that had great significance at the time and formed the basis for our national Memorial Day holiday.

Most Americans have forgotten the origins of Memorial Day. These days it is a long week-end holiday on the last Monday in May which marks the start of summer.  Beaches, parks and summer resorts officially open and stores offer super sales on summer merchandise.  It's a day for beer and backyard Bar-b-que and perhaps a traditional Memorial Day parade the purpose of which has long been forgotten.

Pity....because the wounds of that great civil war are far from healed.  It is easy to scrape a scab off of rancor and racism  and remembering that war, the one that really made us one nation, indivisible, is important. 

In the heat of our passionate political actions and debates, we Americans need to remember the widows and orphans of the Union and the Confederacy, who after the war,  placed flowers on the graves of  ALL  the fallen soldiers to help bring victor and vanquished together and make us one nation.

Let us not forget the power of forgiveness and the fact  that the motto of our country is " E  Pluibus Unum  ( Out of Many, One)

Happy Memorial Day everybody. 

Remember The Fallen on Memorial Day

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This long week-end we celebrate in the United States at the end  of May isn't about the beach or the picnics and parties or even the parades.  It isn't even about soldiers who are off fighting today.  It is about the soldiers of our nation who have fallen in battle.  It came out of a bitter civil war-- a war that tore us apart.  Decoration Day( as it was originally called) was a way of healing the wound and cementing our unity.

It still is except that today we are not Union or Confederate, we are Liberal or Conservative, Republican or Democrat, or even Socialist or Libertarian and only a few of us are actually out there putting our lives on the line.  Memorial Day is still a day when we can put our differences aside and remember that however we differ in our political opinions and visions for our nation, we are all still Americans and the soldiers who  have died in every war deserve our respect and we have an obligation to remember them.

Happy Memorial Day everybody

Memorial Day Musings

Memorial Day in America...an official holiday that always falls on the last Monday in May. It's a three day holiday week-end that most of us associate with parades,picnics and trips to the beach It marks the official start of the summer vacation season.

But it isn't the start of summer that we are memorializing. It is the end of a bloody civil war and the coming together of a divided nation that we celebrate as well as the sacrifice made by those who died on both sides.

Originally called Decoration Day, the first official observance of the holiday was in 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetary. By 1890 the holiday was well established in both the North and South and was celebrated on May 30th. After World War I, the name was changed to Memorial day and the holiday was expanded to include remembrance of all fallen American soldiers. In the 1970's Memorial Day became a movable feast. The date was changed from May 30th to the last Monday in May so that everybody could get a long week-end. I'm not sure that was such a good idea. It surely changed the emphasis of the holiday from soldiers to summer.

In the small town where I live there will be a traditional Memorial Day parade, complete with a wreath laying at the WWII monument near the town hall. There will be flags and bands and in the two local cemetaries small American flags will have been placed on the graves of Veterans. I like that. I like that at least in one small American town, we remember that Memorial Day is about more than the beach. It's about war and peace and the respect we owe to all those who have died in battle, both victor and vanquished.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.