Memorial Day Should Be Kept Sacred

For many, Memorial Day is the official beginning of the coming summer season. Long weekends, bar-b-ques, trips to the beach or other destinations are all part of the excitement. Retailers and others take advantage of the holiday as a way to push a sale and increase their profits, and really there's nothing wrong with any of that, except it completely misses the point of the day.

Memorial Day officially came in to existence courtesy of General Orders #11,issued by Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan on May 5th, 1868 in order to commemorate those who had fallen in defense of our nation during the Civil War. Eventually it was extended as a way to remember any and all who gave their life in defense of our nation and its principles in any war.

Not surprisingly, our awesome leaders in Congress share a great load of the burden for Memorial Day decreasing in significance for the general public outside of the fact that it provides most with a three day weekend. In 1968, they passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, the sole purpose of which was to guarantee more three day weekends for federal employees (super-hard workers that they all are, they deserve more time off, always.) By removing it from its traditional May 30th slot, Congress basically stated that focusing on the memory of our war dead is not what's important, it's convenience for the citizens who are still alive.

I'm in no position to cast stones at anyone who doesn't celebrate Memorial Day in the way it was designed to be, because I rarely focus on it, but I recently read that about 1,000 men and women who fought for the U.S. during WWII died each and every single day, and that really got to me. According to online sources, and the last American who participated in World War 1 (Frank Woodruff Buckles) died in 2011 at age 110.  There were of late  two other confirmed (and two unverified) soldiers from Great Britain who were still alive. While it may be true that we have been in conflicts and wars since then, there has been greater than average political dissension regarding those, and I fear that the genuine purpose of the holiday may disappear forever when the last of our Patriots who fought for our freedoms and our way of life in WWII pass away if we don't recognize them and it while they are still with us.

There was a move, however minor, that was passed via a resolution in 2000 called The National Moment of Remembrance, in which we as a nation are asked to stop what we are doing at 3 p.m. and consider those who sacrificed all that they had that we might remain free. It's not much, but if it should occur to you to think for just a minute, then perhaps there is still a chance of returning this Day to its true reason for existing.