Remembering Memorial Day
Kathy Riggs May 24th, 2009
Well, we have completed our journey to the closing table as traveled by the buyer and before we begin the walk in the seller’s shoes I must use this space to remember what has almost become a forgotten holiday.
I needed a reservation to get a spot on US 70 when I left the office Friday afternoon as scores of vans, SUV’s and cars were in a race to get to North Carolina’s beautiful coastline. Sometimes I wonder if Emerald Isle will become so loaded with people that it might sink into the ocean. But, this was a three-day weekend, the official start of summer! How smart of Congress in 1971 to move Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, so we can celebrate it with gusto – cookouts, beach trips, sales. Did you buy some new furniture this weekend? There were great Memorial Day sales. Buy it on Saturday and have Sunday and Monday to throw out the old and bring in the new…how convenient that Memorial Day just follows a weekend!
But it isn’t about convenience..it’s about remembering….remembering those that gave the ultimate sacrifice in battle so we might endure freedom and pursue the American Dream.
The origin of Memorial Day predates the Civil War when groups of Confederate women decorated the graves of fallen soldiers. It was proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of The Grand Army of the Republic and first observed on May 30 of that year. After World War I, people observed the day to honor those who died in any war…one special day to remember those who sacrificed with their lives. When Congress approved the National Holiday Act of 1971 to create three-day weekends for federal employes, the significance of other affected holidays was not diminished as much as the significance of Memorial Day. Somehow the race to recreation has made us forget we set aside a day to remember those who died in America’s wars.
Three-day weekends are great, but placing a solemn holiday in this category insults the memory of those who gave their lives to preserve and protect our freedoms. It certainly wasn’t convenient for those who died.
Yes, there were scores of memorial services in towns across America this weekend, but they were brief in comparison to a weekend that heralds the start of summer. To restore the meaning of Memorial Day, we need to return it to its rightful place on our calendar, May 30. If you agree, visit www.usmemorialday.org and sign the petition to return Memorial Day to May 30.
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