Next Monday is Memorial Day, an American holiday honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many people visit cemeteries or memorials, hold family gatherings and participate in parades.
The observance originated three years after the Civil War ended. General John Logan designated May 30, 1868, as Decoration Day because it wasn’t the anniversary of any battle. He asked people to strew flowers or otherwise decorate the graves in a nationwide remembrance of his comrades who died in defense of our country during the late rebellion and whose bodies lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. The tradition continued until an act of Congress designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day, an official federal holiday beginning in 1971.
The Civil War was the last time Americans witnessed battles in their homeland. Our nation has been attacked twice since, but the retaliation has been carried out on foreign soil. Japanese airplanes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, December 7, 1941, bringing the United States into World War II. Most of that combat took place in Europe, East Asia, Africa and islands in the Pacific Ocean.
On September 11, 2001, four U.S. passenger jets were highjacked by the militant Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda terrorists and coordinated suicide attacks were carried out. The first two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the third smashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth airliner was intended for a federal building in Washington, D.C., but passengers caused it to crash in a field in Pennsylvania. The international conflict in Afghanistan followed.
Unofficially, Memorial weekend is also considered the beginning of summer. Many things will vie for our attention; stores will advertise bargains for shoppers, grills and patio furniture will be dusted off and picnics planned. Women who follow the conventional fashion rule will dig out white shoes that have been abandoned in the back of closets since Labor Day.
How will you observe Memorial Day?
Unfortunately, Sid & I really do not have a Memorial Day tradition now. However, I remember as a kid, we always picked Bridal Wreath & Lilacs to put on my brothers grave in the Beloit cemetery where I will be buried someday.