"As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation."
-Ronald Reagan
Memorial Day is not about the picnics. It's not about getting a day off of work. It's not even about the awesome sales, even though we can all appreciate a good sale every now and then. It's about so much more than that, and about much more important things than good food and great discounts. I think we all know why we celebrate Memorial Day, but so many of us tend to put our own fun and desires above what truly matters, and forget about the sacrifices made by so many men and women that allow us to have those pleasures in the first place.
The observation of Memorial Day began in the years following the Civil War when Americans visited the graves of soldiers that died in battle. It has even been recorded that women in the southern states visited and decorated the graves of Union soldiers who died during battles in the Confederate states fighting against their own sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands because they recognized how great a sacrifice men on both sides made.
General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War Veterans, called for a national day of remembrance to take place on May 31, 1868. He called it Decoration Day. On that day, General James Garfield, who later became the 20th president, gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery and 5,000 people decorated the graves of the 20,000 soldiers that were buried there. The northern states held similar celebrations on the same day, and each made Decoration Day an official state holiday by 1890. The southern states honored the lives of the fallen soldiers on separate days as the northern states until the conclusion of World War I.
In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, establishing Memorial Day as the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend for federal employees, and declaring it as a national holiday.
One of the biggest Memorial Day traditions still takes place in Arlington national Cemetery. Each year just before Memorial Day weekend, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (the "Old Guard") places American flags at the gravesites of service members buried at Arlington National Cemetery and at the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery. The Sentinels, also members of the Old Guard, that guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier place flags near the tomb to honor the Unknowns.
It saddens me that so many people in my generation and the generation below it take the freedoms we are given in this country for granted. So many of them wish they lived somewhere else in the world for various reasons, all of which blow my mind. They claim this country only grants privileges to people of a certain identity, but if they only knew what it is like to be a minority in almost every other country in this world, they would realize how much privilege they themselves have to even make a claim like that. This country is far from perfect, but as Christians, that should come as no surprise to us. Nothing on this side of Heaven will ever be perfect. But we have been blessed beyond measure to be able to live in the United States of America. The country with more freedoms than any other. The country with more religious liberty than any other. The country that treats everyone as equal, no matter what people may say.
We are Christians before we are Americans, but we can still be proud and thankful to live in this country, and we should thank God everyday for allowing us to live the type of life America offers us. We must not take it for granted any longer, and we must not let the generations below us do the same. Something needs to change, or this won't be the greatest country in the world for much longer. Taking freedoms for granted creates apathy, and apathy causes people to no longer fight for those freedoms because they no longer see them as being good enough. Educate, speak truth, and remind others of the sacrifices so many men and women have made so that we can live with freedoms, rights, and equalities like no other country in the world.
Thank you to all of the members of the military for giving up their lives in one way or another to protect us and fight for our freedoms. We will forever be grateful. Thank you to all of the first responders, police officers, and firefighters for risking your lives to make this country a safer place to live. We will also be forever grateful for you. Finally, thank you to the families of these American heroes for sacrificing time with your loved ones so they can serve this nation and protect us from some of the evils of this world. We will be grateful for you and all of the sacrifices you've made as well.
"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 their virtue."
- James A. Garfield, May 30, 1868, Arlington National Cemetery
sources: https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Visit/Events-and-Ceremonies/Ceremonies/Flags-In, https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history
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