How many people know this origin story? Maybe it doesn’t matter. But it seems like it should, especially given how the holiday has devolved to appliance sales and picnics.
We’ll be barbequing dogs and black bean burgers, drinking beer in sundresses but what are we actually celebrating? And should we be? I’m not from a military family but something gnaws at me when I think about Memorial Day evolving into a three day weekend that “marks the official start of summer,” …and I LOVE summer! But we are still a country who sends people into regions of conflict, where they can (and sometimes do) die. We need to remember where we, collectively, came from. How could we ever have any hope of preventing past mistakes if we lose track of our previous ones?
I’m not saying we should all be out there scrubbing graves.
As someone working on memoir, I am aware that I can be rather single-minded about my story. So perhaps this is a #FridayQuestion I’m writing to remind myself of the broader world, even if the headlines give me heartache on a daily basis.
Matt’s Cub Scout group went every year to the huge veterans cemetary here in LA and cleaned off graves, left flags and flowers. I always thought that was really amazing.
Argh! Thank you for the correction, Susannah. "Decoration Day" NOT "Declaration Day". Will correct that now. And yes, according to the National Veterans Museum and Memorial, there were differences between how the north and south observed the holiday. The south honoring their dead on separate days, until after World War I, for example.
This is so informative, thank you! I was actually wondering why this holiday seems to move around like Easter does and now I know why! Agree with you, how do we move forward without knowing what we came from? How do we do it differently if we don’t know what we want to improve upon this time around? It’s never perfection, merely progress and as I watch us repeat past errors it irks me. Will we ever learn anything from colonialism and colonization? 🫠 a single life lost in any senseless act is a devastating tragedy not one of currency.
I so agree in terms of how sometimes the original meaning can be forgotten- one need only think of Thanksgiving or Mother's Day. Not to say that we shouldn't celebrate moms or gather with families to give thanks-but it would be great for the origin stories to not be forgotten.
This got me curious about the German equivalent, "Volkstrauertag" - National Day of Mourning. There's a national organization (Veterans' Cemeteries Association) going from door to door in fall (Volkstrauertag is in late November) and collecting donations to take care of the cemeteries. I did this when I was in the army.
The day was introduced after WWI and commemorates the veterans of WWI and WWII. Which, yes, raises a lot of questions. In my mind, the day is there to honor those who died for their country (on the order of politicians, or, in Germany's case, of the dictatorship). It's not necessarily there to honor the causes or the politicians. (And, yes, the distinction may not be that clear-cut, but that's a longer discussion).
Matt’s Cub Scout group went every year to the huge veterans cemetary here in LA and cleaned off graves, left flags and flowers. I always thought that was really amazing.
That is amazing! I had no idea his troop did that. I wonder if that is still something some Cub Scout troops do?
Memorial Day is a weird one. I think the original name was Decoration Day. Wondering if it was equally observed in the north and south way back when?
Argh! Thank you for the correction, Susannah. "Decoration Day" NOT "Declaration Day". Will correct that now. And yes, according to the National Veterans Museum and Memorial, there were differences between how the north and south observed the holiday. The south honoring their dead on separate days, until after World War I, for example.
This is so informative, thank you! I was actually wondering why this holiday seems to move around like Easter does and now I know why! Agree with you, how do we move forward without knowing what we came from? How do we do it differently if we don’t know what we want to improve upon this time around? It’s never perfection, merely progress and as I watch us repeat past errors it irks me. Will we ever learn anything from colonialism and colonization? 🫠 a single life lost in any senseless act is a devastating tragedy not one of currency.
"Will we ever learn anything?" is our current theme song, sadly. Thanks for commenting, Holly.
Yeah for summer! But until I read your post I had no idea what the true meaning of Memorial Day was AND what ARE we doing to honor that!?
Exactly!
I wonder what happens when the original meaning of our own history is lost.
I so agree in terms of how sometimes the original meaning can be forgotten- one need only think of Thanksgiving or Mother's Day. Not to say that we shouldn't celebrate moms or gather with families to give thanks-but it would be great for the origin stories to not be forgotten.
This got me curious about the German equivalent, "Volkstrauertag" - National Day of Mourning. There's a national organization (Veterans' Cemeteries Association) going from door to door in fall (Volkstrauertag is in late November) and collecting donations to take care of the cemeteries. I did this when I was in the army.
The day was introduced after WWI and commemorates the veterans of WWI and WWII. Which, yes, raises a lot of questions. In my mind, the day is there to honor those who died for their country (on the order of politicians, or, in Germany's case, of the dictatorship). It's not necessarily there to honor the causes or the politicians. (And, yes, the distinction may not be that clear-cut, but that's a longer discussion).