I wanted to share my good friend, Bob Dilenschneider’s, heartfelt and eloquent
#MemorialDay message.
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LET THIS MEMORIAL DAY UNITE US IN HONORING OUR FALLEN HEROES
Memorial Day, which we mark this year on Monday, May 25, is that special day on which we honor all those who have died while serving in the U.S. military — Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and the Coast Guard. Since the American Revolution, it is a number that approaches 1.2 million.
The great tradition of military service goes on. Today, some 2.11 million men and women help defend our nation — 1.3 million on active duty and 800,000 in Reserve units or the National Guard. Some 170,000 are in overseas posts, including such dangerous places as the Middle East.
Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day. That is because in the years immediately after the Civil War, communities across the nation decorated the graves of the fallen with flowers. The practice was formalized in 1868 by Gen. John A. Logan, leader of a Union Army veterans’ organization, who declared May 30 as the day for honoring the Civil War dead. He chose that date knowing that spring flowers for the graves would be at their peak. As proof of how intense emotions ran, 20,000 graves in Arlington Cemetery alone were decorated.
By 1890, all the Northern states had made May 30 a holiday. In the South, however, the states chose to honor their dead on different dates. North and South were united in one commemoration after World War I — a conflict in which the U.S. suffered 116,500 losses — when Congress designated a single national holiday. It was also decided that the day should honor the dead of not just the Civil War, but all U.S. conflicts.
In 1971, Congress changed the holiday's name to Memorial Day and designated the last Monday in May for its celebration, creating a three-day weekend. The name change was made to distinguish it from Veterans Day when we honor all those who have served honorably in the Armed Forces, the living as well as the dead.
Memorial Day also marks, of course, the unofficial start of summer — a time for holiday pleasures like cookouts, first trips of the year to a beach, going to a baseball game and so many other happy events.
No matter how we celebrate this historic day, let's all stay safe. And let us all remember the purpose of Memorial Day — to honor all the courageous men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
Remember to Remember.
Best regards,
Robert L. Dilenschneider