Many people tend to celebrate Memorial Day with a BBQ or day at the beach. However, Memorial Day is not a celebration, but a solemn day toreflectonveterans and military personnel who are deceased.
Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, is adaytohonormembersofthe military who were killed in service, both during deployments overseas or in training and service in the U.S. Across the country. Because Memorial Day is a somber day to honor those who died in service to the country, saying “Happy Memorial Day” can be considered bad taste.
For those who have lost family or friends through military service, the day is far from happy. For anybody who might feel the need to say something, try “Have a meaningful Memorial Day.”
The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868. Then, known as Decoration Day, the holiday was proclaimed by Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic to honor the Union soldiers whohaddiedintheCivilWar. Thisnationalobservancewas preceded by many local ones between the end of the Civil War and Logan's declaration.
Many cities and people have claimed to be the first to observe it. However, the National Cemetery Administration, a division of the Department of Veterans Affairs, credits Mary Ann Williamswithoriginatingthe idea of strewing the graves of Civil War soldiers, Union and Confederate with flowers.
Official recognition as a holiday spread among the states, beginning with New York in 1873. By 1890, every Union state had adopted it. The World Wars I and II turned it into a day of remembrance for all members of the U.S. military who fought and died in service. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as 'Memorial Day' and changed its observance to the last Monday in May.
Americans spend the day visiting cemeteries, attending Memorial Day events and otherwise honoring those who lost their lives in service to the country. The red poppy is often worn on Memorial Day, a tradition started during World War I and inspired by Canadian soldier John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” written in 1915.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. So be thankful for the freedoms thatissometimestaken for granted and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifrice.