Monday will be Memorial Day. Don’t wish me a happy Memorial Day. To me, that is the biggest oxymoron in the American language. It’s like saying, “Have fun at the funeral.”
A little background. In 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, people began laying flowers on the graves of soldiers killed in the bloodiest four years in American History. May 30 was referred to as Decoration Day or Memorial Day. In 1970, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act designating the last Monday in May as Memorial Day, a federal holiday.
In the Durand area, the Legion members place a small American flag on the grave of every veteran. People decorate family cemetery plots with flowers. The Stars and Stripes line Center Street in the village, but the usual service honoring those who died will not be held because of the Coronavirus. Neither will VFW Buddy Poppies be sold. The artificial flowers, assembled by disabled and needy veterans in VA hospitals, remind us of the World War I poem by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea. The Canadian physician described the Belgium cemetery, “In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row.”
On Memorial weekend, many things vie for our attention. Stores advertise bargains. Campers, grills and patio furniture will be dusted off for the unofficial beginning of summer. This year, people practicing social distancing will forego parties.
I hope everyone will take a few minutes to ponder the meaning of Memorial Day and offer a prayer of thanksgiving for our freedom preserved with peoples’ lives.
How will you observe Memorial Day?
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