Many Americans take holidays off without thinking about the special meaning of the day. It’s important that we don’t lose sight of the significance of these special events. Memorial Day, for example, is a day of national respect and remembrance for those who have died defending our nation. It is not just another holiday, but a special commemoration, first observed as Decoration Day on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers.
It is a time to put aside all that might otherwise divide the country to honor those who brought glory upon themselves, their families, and our nation. It can still be a day for restoring faith in our country and our fellow Americans.
To veterans, remembering the sacrifices of one’s comrades is of great importance. Memorial Day is a day when tears well in the strongest man’s eyes as the solemn strains of "Taps" are played. It’s a day when the words of the National Anthem seem especially poignant.
Those whom we honor on Memorial Day number more than one million. That’s more than one million Americans who have given the last full measure of devotion. In faraway places with names that are often difficult to pronounce, these soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines lived constantly in the shadow of danger or death. As we gather to remember the true meaning of Memorial Day, we remember not only the heroes of the past, those who battled the evils of their times – totalitarianism and communism – but the heroes of the present who fell fighting the latest form of tyranny, the tyranny of terrorism.
The determination and courage shown by countless Americans who have fought and died in defense of our nation is symbolized in a myriad of monuments and memorials, each commemorating the deeds of untold Americans whose remains sanctify soil throughout the world. Those who have died and those who are still missing deserve our perpetual contemplation.
President Abraham Lincoln knew this when he dedicated those hallowed grounds at Gettysburg on that cold November day in 1863. Lincoln said:
"We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that a nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but they can never forget what they did here."
May we never forget those who have fought for our freedom, and may we quietly celebrate the lives of those who have truly made America the land of the free and the home of the brave.
