Civic Register
| 5.30.21

Do You Know the Meaning of Memorial Day?
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This content leverages data from USAFacts, a non-profit that visualizes governmental data. You can learn more on its website, Facebook, and Twitter.
- For many, the Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer, a time for corporate America to mark down its wares, a time to enjoy the improving weather with beers, BBQs, and a three-day weekend.
- The holiday’s true purpose is to honor the service of U.S. military personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty to ensure that Americans have the freedom to enjoy a three-day weekend, which is why some servicemembers and veterans object to the phrase “Happy Memorial Day.” That purpose distinguishes Memorial Day from Veterans Day, which honors former servicemembers, and Armed Forces Day, which recognizes the ongoing service of those in the military today.
- The first observances of what would eventually become known as Memorial Day began the year after the Civil War ended in 1866 when a number of communities gathered together to decorate the graves of local soldiers who were killed in the conflict.
- Where the holiday officially began has been a matter of debate, as around 25 of those communities — including some in Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania — have claimed to be its birthplace. Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared in 1966 that Waterloo, New York had been the true birthplace a century earlier, when the town’s businesses all closed for the day and flags were flown at half-staff.
- The first large-scale observance of the holiday (known back then as Decoration Day) happened on May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery. There, two former Union generals — John Logan and James Garfield (who later became president) — gave a speech to 5,000 participants before the crowd decorated over 20,000 graves of the Union and Confederate soldiers buried there:
“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue.” — James Garfield May 30, 1868 Arlington National Cemetery
- After the conclusion of World War I, Decoration Day was broadened to honor not just those killed in the Civil War, but fallen soldiers from all conflicts.
- The term “Memorial Day” was first used in 1882 and became more widely used following World War II, but didn’t become the holiday’s official name until 1967. The following year, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holidays Act which moved Memorial Day from May 30 to the final Monday in May, allowing for a convenient three-day weekend.
- The Civil War is still the deadliest conflict in U.S. history, accounting for about 750,000 of the more than 1,354,664 Americans who’ve died in the service of their country since the Revolutionary War.
- This USAFacts chart shows the 620,000 deaths that occurred in wars and military operations over the last 120 years and the breakdown of deaths from hostile action in combat and non-combat deaths from accidents and injuries:
- The deadliest conflict since the turn of the 20th century is World War II, in which 405,000 servicemembers died and over 291,000 were killed in combat.
- There have been over 7,000 U.S. military deaths in the 21st century during the Global War on Terror, which began following the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Most of those deaths occurred during military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- This USAFacts chart shows U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom (October 2001 to December 2014) and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (January 2015 to present); and in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom (March 2003 to 2010), Operation New Dawn (September 2010 to December 2011), and Operation Inherent Resolve (June 2014 to present):
- Most of the U.S. military deaths have been among servicemembers younger than 30, who accounted for more than three-quarters of all deaths during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and about two-thirds of all deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This USAFacts chart shows the age ranges of the American servicemembers killed in those two operations:
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser via Arlington National Cemetery Flickr / Public Domain)
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Memorial Day to me means honoring those who served and died in our country’s wars to preserve our freedoms, democracy , and way of life. I,also, honor the veterans who have died since serving in the military, like my parents, uncles, and dear husband. I know,not technically correct, but it gives me comfort. Last week I was banned from a local Facebook post for NOT criticizing the American Legion, local school district, nearby village officials for not having a Memorial Day Parade! I stated that we were in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and there are still many not vaccinated in this area. I suggested going to a nearby village that was having a parade. Banned for a week! One can not have an opinion that counters another’s opinion!
We owe our democracy and freedoms to soldiers, men, women, gay, straight all of them that have offered up their lives for it. But now something is twisting me up inside in this new world. I don't think we should have ex-soldiers serving in our government. I used to think that it was a good idea but since Flynn was charged and the criminal Trump pardoned him I have concluded that it is too dangerous to have them serving in government at all!
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My Dad was a WWII South Pacific Marine and would never elaborate on his combat experiences. One month before he passed at the age of 90, he finally spoke in depth of the Bravery and carnage that he had lived and witnessed. OH MY GOD!!! NEVER FORGET WHAT THE AMERICAN FIGHTING FORCES HAVE DONE AND ENDURED FOR THIS COUNTRY AND ITS CITIZENS. DON’T TAKE THIS COUNTRY AND IT’S FREEDOMS FOR GRANTED.
I know this Memorial Day is a sad time for the US, Treason is no longer punished, but often revered. Patriot no longer means lover of country, but its used to mean traitor. Traitors should be prosecuted or else there is no reason for anyone to defend the US.
Yes. I know what Memorial Day is. Its a day of parayer for fallen servicemembers who died for our country. Apparently our so-called Vice P{resident does not. Sad...
Over the weekend Michael Flynn once again said that the military should stage a military coup....on MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! The time we honor those who FREAKING DIED for our democracy! High time the military stepped in and took out Flynn.....they can do this, I understand by calling him back to duty and court martialing him.....They should just DO it.
Yesterday ( in Florida) I observed many families and young people on boats, displaying the following flags: TRUMP 2024 Make America Great Again TRUMP 2024 Fuck Your Feelings FUCK BIDEN These were all flown next to the American Flag. I feel this is a sad commentary on the state of patriotism and these people are being completely disrespectful of our service men and women. Honestly I wanted to shove their flags up their arrogant asses. And these same people will bitch about Pride flags flying at embassies. Hypocrites one and all!
jimK, we agree. Dave - thank you for serving. Your outlook is warped as it relates to January 6th, heightened no doubt by the lies and falsehoods peddled by a liberal media that deemed the event an "armed" attack. The statistics are there to view. No one charged with trespass or any other minor infraction has yet to have been confirmed to be "armed". As I said a while back, if those recognizing the illegitimate results of the election truly intended an "armed insurrection" it would have happened. And it wouldn't have been turned back. Do the math.
I value the meaning of Memorial Day: decorating the resting places of our fallen US soldiers and honoring their service. It isn't about politics, it isn't about barbecue, it isn't about sales and promotions. It also isn't about honoring those who fought against our country to preserve slavery. It's about honoring the fallen soldiers who fought for the full United States to keep our union strong. I hope we all remember that every year.
It saddens me to see Memorial Day get trivialized as a shopping holiday, a vacation day at the beach or a day of celebration. It is and should be a day of remembrance for those who sacrificed their lives so we can shop, take vacations and celebrate our way of life which they have preserved for us. Our extended family lost quite a few to World War Two and a few to the Korean War. As I kid, a friend of mine lost his dad to the Korean War. I can remember his mother’s grief and my friends confusion although I was too young to understand it at the time. My father was at Pearl Harbor and my father-in-law piloted an LST in the Normandy invasion. They were both scarred by what they saw although neither would talk much about it. I lost several good high school friends to Viet Nam and remember the toll it took on their siblings and parent’s. This day should be about them, the honor of their duty to protect the common good and their willingness to go into harm’s way to protect our country and our way of life. That and compassionate understanding of the suffering of the families and friends that they have left behind.
So little has ever served, but give lip service about it. My father, my brothers and my self have service in the the military in support of our democracy, freedom and liberty. Some of the people I served with gave their life in this belief. What happened on Jan 6 was an assault on democracy, liberty and freedom, a slap in the face to those who have served and gave their life in this great experiment called democracy, liberty and freedom!
Defending democratic principles in the world is a reason so many military personnel volunteered for service and died. Many experts are writing that we are throwing away those principles by allowing self-interest, disproportionate political power to a small portion of the population with deep pickets, partisanship in government, partisan districting, and the slew of legislation re-working the election process to make it harder for those predicted to vote for Democrats to cast their ballots. For example: “On Tuesday, over 100 political science experts specializing in democracy, including scholars of how democracies around the world backslide into authoritarianism and failed states, signed an open letter demanding that Democrats in Congress abolish the Senate filibuster for the sake of passing voting rights reform. "When democracy breaks down, it typically takes many years, often decades, to reverse the downward spiral. In the process, violence and corruption typically flourish, and talent and wealth flee to more stable countries, undermining national prosperity," said the letter, noting that "Republican lawmakers have openly talked about ensuring the 'purity' and 'quality' of the vote, echoing arguments widely used across the Jim Crow South as reasons for restricting the Black vote." The letter appeared, without mentioning them by name, to rebuke center-right Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), both of whom have expressed support for voting rights but have opposed reforming the filibuster for the sake of bipartisanship and institutionalism. "It is always far better for major democracy reforms to be bipartisan, to give change the broadest possible legitimacy," added the letter. "However, in the current hyper-polarized political context such broad bipartisan support is sadly lacking. Elected Republican leaders have had numerous opportunities to repudiate Trump and his 'Stop the Steal' crusade, which led to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Each time, they have sidestepped the truth and enabled the lie to spread." "We urge members of Congress to do whatever is necessary — including suspending the filibuster — in order to pass national voting and election administration standards that both guarantee the vote to all Americans equally, and prevent state legislatures from manipulating the rules in order to manufacture the result they want," concluded the letter. "Our democracy is fundamentally at stake. History will judge what we do at this moment." https://www.rawstory.com/history-will-judge-what-we-do-100-democracy-scholars-demand-democrats-end-the-filibuster-or-we-could-lose-our-country/
There are many ways to die. Memorial Day traditionally is to remember and respect military personnel who lost their lives serving their country, and many think of those who died physically. There are many who were maimed and lost life as they knew it. Those who have a traumatic brain injury or chronic PTSD also lost life as they knew it and, in some cases, the self they knew before going to war. Some military personnel list their connection to spirituality from broken hearts. Please remember these people, too, on Memorial Day. They also deserve respect and remembrance.
I know that I've been without my dad since 1986, yet my mother continued to fly the American flag, proudly, until she died in 2007. When 9-11 devastated our country, I hung my dad's flag at the homeless coalition that I ran, and military veterans from Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan mourned with me. We have our own memorial at home, built by my husband, also a veteran, and we added a Black Lives Matter flag this past year to the other flags in the yard. Of course, we aren't patriots because of flags. We simply bow in reverent appreciation for those who truly were. When Abraham Lincoln mentioned "the last full measure of devotion," he could not have imagined a Congress too busy to investigate an insurrection or a land where mass shootings have become the national sport.
Yes, I understand the meaning of Memorial Day, but a lot of good things are said on this day, but we tend to forget the next day! We as a nation do not treat the families that lost their love ones in the best manor. We tend to underfund the veterans administration! We need better follow up on veterans when they return to civilian life !
Absolutely like Kamala Harris said “Have a nice long weekend.”
It is not surprising to me how Memorial Day has morphed over the years. As many have heartfelt feelings about veterans as those who prefer to avoid the issue that going to war means giving away one's life to one's country's military hierarchy. I was not born into a Warrior Family. I grew up in a family that generationally questioned going to war. My European born grandparents all opposed fighting in wars. Uncles who felt compelled to join, served during WWII returned jaded and disillusioned (and likely suffered from PTSD). Other uncles joined branches or sought roles less likely to see fighting. Family friends returned from Korea equally jaded and disappointed with the leadership both in command and in politics. Cousins returned from Vietnam were even more jaded and very dispirited. My parents were more opposed to the Vietnam war than I or any of my college aged friends. I was lucky with a number I received and my college status. While lip-service may have been given to "America My Country Right or Wrong," the genuine belief was "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." Always ask, "Why?" Always ask, "How?" And “Who?" and "What for?" Seek the truth about the goals of war abd military actions. Memorial Day parades do little to help us reflect on why the Civil War was fought or why any other war or military actions were undertaken. Tragically, lives were lost in those few truly just military actions, but, sadly, it seems many lives have been lost without truly good cause, in fact the stated reasons were lies as often as not. @eireprof’s comment echo's my sentiments about going to war, if not how to properly "provide the common defense.”* "Yeah, it’s a reminder that war is Hell and we should stop being a neo-imperialist nation. "Melt the guns, defund the military. " * From the Preamble of the US Constitution.
Oh look! Thousands of bikers are in D.C. to pay tribute to our servicemembers who never came home. News4 Photojournalist Jeff Cridland captured some of the sights and sounds of the Rolling to Remember rally. Rolling to Remember, a massive motorcycle rally to honor veterans and advocate for their mental health, will be happening all weekend in the D.C. area. A candlelight vigil at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was held Friday night. It was NOT canceled! So glad we finally have a President who honors and reveres our military! Bless him!