Millions of Americans just spent a relaxing weekend wrapping up the school year, taking a mini-trip, firing up the barbecue, opening up their community pool, or simply tossing back a few with family and friends. But this extended holiday weekend also contains one of our nation’s most sacred and somber remembrances, which should never be forgotten.
Memorial Day is much more than just a hangover Monday following the first long weekend of summer, it’s the official day of recognition, pause and reflection as well as for saluting the sacrifice and memory of those who paid the ultimate price for our many freedoms as Americans.
Our nation’s first Memorial Day was April 25, 1866, when Confederate war widows organized remembrance ceremonies in Columbus, Georgia, and Columbus, Mississippi. The two southern towns still wrestle with whose commemoration came first, but whichever way you slice it, th “losing side” of the Civil War began the practice.
Our Union side would later begin a national day of remembrance called Decoration Day. It would not be until 1968 that Congress would officially move Memorial Day and four other national holidays from their traditional dates of observance to four calendar-fixed Mondays. Memorial Day opens up summer on the last Monday in May.
Armed Forces Week begins the second Saturday in May, and Armed Forces Day is officially the third Saturday, celebrating all active duty personnel in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force, and related special forces. May is also officially Military Appreciation Month.
Somewhere in the shuffle, these patriotic and sacred remembrance holidays have somewhat lost their focus. Memorial Day weekend has become better known for barbecues and brews than moments of remembrance and reflection.
Congress passed the National Remembrance Act in 2000, asking all Americans to pause and reflect at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day. The federal statute also calls for flying all flags at half-mast from dawn until after 3 p.m. Along with a silent salute, this seems a very small price to pay in recognition of the many who, along with their families, paid the ultimate price.
Also consider visiting a Veteran’s Memorial or cemetery to underscore the importance of the holiday. Here in Georgia, there are multiple parks and monuments dedicated to Veterans as well as cemeteries. Perhaps none being more visually impactful than the Andersonville National Historic Site in southwest Georgia where 13,000 primarily Union prisoners of war died while in captivity during the Civil War. Thousands of small nameless crosses blanket the landscape with graves covering much of the 515-acre park and monument. Modern era war veterans continue to be buried there with honors as well.
Much more recently, the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association Foundation produced a documentary telling the story of the enduring legacies of the Vietnam War and survivors of that era and conflict.Unlike most returning veterans of prior and post conflicts, those veterans returned to face in many ways a hostile American public. Those stories and others are shared in a compelling documentary, available on YouTube entitled, “Truths & Myths of the Vietnam War.”
So, enjoy this long holiday weekend with your friends and family, but please give a somber moment of pause for this cause of recognition and remembrance, whether with a silent salute, attending a memorial service, visiting a monument or cemetery or sitting down to view a movie or documentary paying homage to those who gave their all for our liberty and freedom.