Memorial Day – A Return To Reverence
Posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2012
Today is Memorial Day. This is a day to remember our military men and women who have fallen in defense of our country.
The tradition of honoring our country’s war dead at burial grounds dates back to the Civil War. Many cities, towns, and villages held ceremonies to place flowers at the graveyards and battlefields.
When I was growing up, we took Decoration Day, as many of us called it back then, quite seriously. There usually was a ceremony with flags and taps played. For some years there was a parade. And we always bought and wore our poppies from the VFW.
We went to the cemetery to see all the flags placed on the graves. Not only did each veteran’s grave have a flag, but the VFW Ladies Auxiliary put special markers and flags at the graves of the widows and mothers, too. So, yes, I grew up knowing what Decoration Day was all about.
I’m not so sure it’s that way anymore.
I think the erosion of the observance started when Memorial Day was swept up in the fervor of the three day weekend. When congress passed the National Holiday Act of 1971, the nation was robbed of this solemn day of remembrance. Instead, we get yet another chance to take a road trip, shop the sales, and have a cookout.
Okay, before you boo-hiss me, I’m all for heading to the beach and having a cookout. But, do we have to bundle Memorial Day into the mix? Why couldn’t congress just declare the last Monday of May as “Welcome Summer Day” and we can all have a great time?
I believe we need to move Memorial Day back to May 30th where it belongs. That’s the only way we will put the reverence back in the day. And, apparently, there are others who feel the same. There have been bills introduced to congress to return Memorial Day to May 30th, but they sit in a judiciary committee gathering dust.
Instead, a “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed in 2000 which asks all Americans to pause at 3 o’clock in the afternoon “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to taps.” This is a small attempt to help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day.
But, is that little nod to our fallen military men and women who have sacrificed their life for our country enough? I think not.
Returning Memorial Day to May 30th is the only way we can correct the diluting of this important observance. Is it too much to ask the nation to set aside one day out of the year to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country? Do we have to make a party out of it?
Again, I’m not against having a long weekend to travel, cook a few brats, throw down some beer, and just enjoy the first nice rays of summer. What I AM against is including Memorial Day in the festivities.
We need to return the solemn, sacred spirit back to Memorial Day. Return Memorial Day to its traditional day of observance.
Quoting the VFW 2002 Memorial Day address; “Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”
So, today, May 30th, I humbly pray for our war dead and our military men and women who have sacrificed so much for us.
I think the solemnity of the day is expressed so perfectly in the Memorial Day proclamation by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, dated May 5, 1868. I’ve included an excerpt from the order just as a reminder of what Memorial Day is supposed to be about:
The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
… Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and found mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of free and undivided republic.
If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.
Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation’s gratitude,–the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.
So, yeah, could we please have a three day weekend some other day in May? How about making Mother’s Day a three day weekend? Or maybe the first Monday in June? If we need a three day weekend when the weather turns warm, let’s just pick a different one, shall we?
p.s. Those are my thoughts. And, apparently I’m not alone. If you’d like to learn more about the effort to move Memorial Day back where it belongs, click on here: Help Restore the Traditional Day of Observance of Memorial Day
p.p.s. I ranted a little bit on Veteran’s Day, too. Click on here for more on that: Thank You For Your Service
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I agree- when I taught I always felt that Martin Luther King Day should be a school day, used to teach; not another long weekend for skiing and shopping.
Yes, Lisa, I agree. What is the thinking in the first place when a day is chosen to honor someone? I’m sure the proclamation is made with all good intentions. When does it get watered down to just another long weekend and day off of school? Our education system is missing out on a chance to teach our kids about our country’s REAL heroes.
Thanks again, Lisa, for visiting with me here on RW. I sure appreciate your time and your company.
I think it gets watered down too, although I’ve appreciated all the Facebook pictures of both dads and children who have served. Veterans Day seems to carry the spirit forward pretty well though!
Thank you, Barbara. I really am enjoying all the pictures on Facebook, too, and all the efforts some people are taking to remind everyone that Memorial Day is a day to remember our service men and women who have sacrificed their life for us. I do wish they would move it back to the 30th and out of the long holiday weekend thing. It just seems so… forgotten.
So, since Christmas has become so commercialized, maybe we should move that to the last Monday of December to take advantage of a long shopping weekend. I wonder how well THAT would go over?
Thanks, Barbara, for sharing your thoughts. And, yes, Veterans Day seems to maintain its meaning of honoring our military. Could it be because it hasn’t been moved to the second Monday of November to create a three day weekend… yet? ((sigh))
Thanks again!