Memorial Day: Remember and Honor the Fallen

  

 
      Today, I feel it is appropriate to shift the focus a bit away from the Cold War Television and honor our fallen on this Memorial Day.  Memorial Day is often deemed the "unofficial kick-off" to the summer season and is celebrated with beach days, barbecues, parties, parades, and fireworks, but often it is not exercised as the day to honor our fallen soldiers.  Memorial Day was originally dubbed "Decoration Day" and was intended to be a day of remembrance for those who died while serving our country in the Civil War.  According to USMemorialDay.org, Memorial Day's roots go all the way back to 1868 when General John Logan, a national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared Memorial Day an official day to honor the fallen of the Civil War.  The day was deemed to appropriately honor those fallen from both Confederate and Union armies in an effort to reconcile the divisions of the Civil War.  Graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery were decorated on May 30th of that year as a means of honor for their service. By 1890, all the states in the North recognized the official "Memorial Day."  The South, however, refused to recognize the nationally designated day until after World War I, instead honoring their Confederate fallen on separate days.  Post-World War I proved a milestone in that the designation of Memorial Day was changed to honor all war dead, not just those from the Civil War.  With this, the South also recognized the day and it became a true nationally recognized day of remembrance.  In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a federally recognized holiday, which we celebrate today.


         Though Memorial Day does unofficially kick-off the summer season with the tourists heading to the beach towns, the barbecues christening the start to summer foods, parades and fireworks bringing crowds together in celebration, we should not forget that the day is one to remember our fallen for without them, there would be no summer celebrations.  During this kickoff to the summer season, lets remember the true meaning of Memorial Day and just take a moment to thank our soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy our summer barbecues and beach days, and our freedoms for which these soldiers fought and died so valiantly.