For many Americans, Memorial Day is barely more than an observance of a federal holiday, a time to gather for a barbeque with family and friends and raise a glass for freedom. Even mainstream media can sometimes objectify the day with stock footage of flags on tombstones or a televised reunion featuring a child throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game only to discover that her redeployed parent is hidden behind a catcher's equipment.
That's not to say that these private or communal moments acknowledging the holiday aren't well-meaning. However, for those who have served in the armed forces or have lost family, friends, or brothers and sisters in arms, there is a solemnity and bitterness to the last Monday in May. Remembering the fallen has a personal cost that feels heavier than barbeque, beer, or baseball.
Decoration Day
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. "May 30, 1868, is designated to strew with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land," he proclaimed.
This Declaration of Decoration Day came only five short years after Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was delivered, where his words were forever memorialized and now often quoted about the degree to which serving, fighting, and defending the freedom of this country echoes throughout time.
The Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain
In his 1863 speech, Lincoln summarized his view of the Civil War in just ten short sentences. His primary message of the Gettysburg Address is that ideals are worth dying for and that it is up to the living to carry on the work of those who died to protect them. The standards of equality and freedom are the bedrock of the United States as a nation.
"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—"
Today, 160 years after Lincoln's public urging to honor those who gave the last full measure of devotion, Americans continue to enjoy ongoing efforts for equality and freedom. So how can one honor those for whom life in the fight ended too soon? Below are three ways to make Memorial Day more meaningful.
Carry On the Work of Those Who Died
Visit sites like Fallen Heroes or Honor the Fallen and look at the faces and biographies of service members who have paid the ultimate price – some of them as recently as a few months ago. Pair this with the National Moment of Remembrance, and at 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day, have a moment of silence for their lives and those they left behind.
Commit to choosing a local or national veteran support program where you can donate your time or resources in the coming year. Places like the Travis Manion Foundation, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, the VFW, or the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation are good places to start.
Are you looking to sweat it out? If you're the Cross-Fitting type, commit to the "Murph" hero workout, or if walking or jogging is more your speed, track and report your mileage to the national Wear Blue: Run to Remember campaign where you can join alongside others as living memorials.
This year on Memorial Day, whether you vow to get aligned with a charity organization, observe the day in quiet reverence, or complete a rigorous physical activity, do it in remembrance of those service men and women who gave their last full measure of devotion to our nation.
Carry on their memory not just for a single day but for a lifetime.
