EDITORIAL: Remembering Memorial Day (05/29/05)

EDITORIAL

Remembering Memorial Day

Given that so much has been written this year about the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II - in which 45 million troops and civilians died - as Memorial Day 2005 approaches, our thoughts turned to the meaning of this national holiday.

To most people in the United States, Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday in May, is simply the first holiday weekend of the approaching summer season. It's a time to head out for the long weekend, whether to the mountains or the seashore; a time to enjoy three days with family and friends.

However pleasant that may be, it is far from the original intent of the Memorial Day holiday.

Originally called Decoration Day, it was a day on which the graves of the Civil War dead were decorated with flowers. Today the day is observed in remembrance of all the country's war dead - those who paid the ultimate price in the ranks of the U.S. armed forces. The holiday was officially proclaimed back in 1868 by Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on May 30 of that year, when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1971 an act of Congress designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day, thus creating a three-day weekend as a result of the national holiday. Today - and some say as a direct result of the three-day holiday weekend - Memorial Day traditions have been largely neglected. To be sure, some towns and cities still do hold Memorial Day parades, and veterans' groups, among them the Ukrainian American Veterans, still decorate the graves of fallen comrades, but the average American's observance of the day comes down to a barbecue.

Forgotten are the traditions of visiting cemeteries and placing flowers and/or flags upon the graves of family members and friends who died in combat; of visiting memorials honoring fallen heroes; of flying the U.S. flag at half-staff until noon and flying the POW/MIA flag; or of supporting organizations that give aid to the widows/widowers and orphans of the war dead, as well as to disabled veterans. (The annual sales of artificial red poppies known as "Buddy Poppies," the official memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, help needy and disabled vets.)

Indeed, as some observers have noted, the "memorial" in Memorial Day has been forgotten.

So, this weekend, when you head out to enjoy your extended weekend, we urge you to take a little bit of time out to honor those for whom Memorial Day was established. Remember to honor our country's fallen heroes - proud American men and women of diverse backgrounds, many of them immigrants from other lands - on this special day.

As a column (signed by G.H.) printed in The Ukrainian Weekly in 1948 noted: "It has often been said that when we do visit the grave of a fallen soldier or sailor, it is not to add anything to the hallowed remains, but to become strengthened in the conviction that they died to make the world a better place to live in, that their cause has not yet been won, and that it is up to us, the living, to advance that cause a step further."

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