By AnOldPieceOfLeather
With all due respect for those who never served in the United States military nor is/was close to someone who is/was, pleaseunderstand Memorial Day is not a celebratory day.
Memorial Day honors service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle. Deceased veterans are also remembered on Veterans Day which is set aside to thank and honor living veterans who served honorably in the military — in wartime or peacetime.
“Each year on the last Monday in May, the Defense Department joins the nation in honoring service members who lost their lives in defense of the nation, and mourns with their families.
Observed on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is an annual day of remembrance to honor all those who died in service to the U.S. during peacetime and war. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, and volunteers place American flags on graves at national cemeteries. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. local time.
While Memorial Day honors those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, Veterans Day — November 11 — celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. The day is largely intended to thank living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all who served — not only those who died — have sacrificed and done their duty.
Memorial Day used to be Decoration Day. The observance began as Decoration Day when flowers were placed on graves of the fallen, with the first national celebration held at Arlington National Cemetery, May 30, 1868. At the turn of the century, it was designated as Memorial Day. In 1971, federal law changed the observance to the last Monday in May.”
{defense.gov}
It is not:
a day to have mattress sales, or summer-related consumer goods sales, or car sales, or any other type of themed sale. That’s not the reason hundreds of thousands of men and women died for their country.
a day to greet a military service member with, “Happy Memorial Day”. It is not a ‘happy day’. Period.
It is a solemn day of remembrance and prayer.
Memorial Day is just that; memorial.
Even though it can be every day, this day was specifically designated to remember those military service men and women who sacrificed their lives for their nation; a cause to take part in what they thought was protecting their nation they considered worthy.
Veterans Day is the specially designated day where thanking a veteran or service member for their service, although it is proper to do so on any day.
“Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on Nov. 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938, Nov. 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’” As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.
In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress — at the urging of veterans service organizations — amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
In 1968, the Uniform Holiday Monday Act ensured three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on Oct. 25, 1971.
Finally on Sept. 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law that returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on Nov. 11.”
[Military.com}
Hopefully this explains why, when someone says, “Happy Memorial Day” to a veteran that veteran may very well give a confused look.
No more wars.
NCSWIC
I was struck with the contrast to our own memorial observances while watching a video of the Russian Federation’s memorial observance of its World War II dead at the hands of the Nazis. It was truly reverential. They carried signs with the names and photos of their lost loved ones and flowers. Their collective grief as a nation was truly touching to see and did not seem to have been diminished by the passage of time. We should stop saying “Happy” Memorial Day and make more effort to commemorate the true reason for this day of observance.
I just posted something short but similar.