Memorial Day: Don’t Forget to Remember

Memorial Day is just around the corner. Sometimes referred to as the “unofficial start to summer,” families regularly gather, grill hotdogs and discuss summer plans.

This year, however, let’s not let our family celebrations take us too far away from Memorial Day’s solemn commemoration. Indeed, Memorial Day is our nation’s foremost annual federal holiday to mourn and honor those 1.1 million men and women who paid the ultimate price for our nation and freedom.

Memorial Day grew out of “Decoration Days” in the aftermath of the Civil War where communities would decorate the graves of fallen soldiers at springtime. One such event took place in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, where three women decorated the graves of fallen soldiers in October 1864.

But the idea of having an official day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers traces back to Columbus, Georgia, where the Ladies Memorial Association formed to improve and decorate the city cemetery which was in disarray.

Secretary Mary Ann Williams wrote a letter calling for this restoration, which was published in a local newspaper on March 11, advocating “to set apart a certain day to be observed … and be handed down through time as a religious custom of the country, to wreathe the graves of our martyred dead with flowers” on April 26, 1866.

To add a little drama to the story, the city of Columbus, Mississippi, held a very similar memorial event one day earlier, thus giving them the right to claim to hold the first actual Memorial Day. There, four women took flowers to Friendship Cemetery and decorated the graves of those who had fallen in the Battle of Shiloh – both Union and Confederate soldiers – on April 25, 1866.

On May 5, 1868, the first “Memorial Day Order” was issued by Grand Army of the Republic Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan. He proclaimed: “The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.”

After gaining traction in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans and being recognized as an official holiday in 1873 by New York state, President Lyndon Johnson established Memorial Day as a federal holiday on June 28, 1968, through the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, moving the traditional date to the last Monday in May.

As Americans and as Christians, we have a moral obligation to remember those who have died in defense of our nation. Our attitude and our personal disposition on Memorial Day should be fitting to what we are commemorating. We are remembering the brave, heroic men and women who have died – over 400,000 in WWII and over 500,0000 in the Civil War – serving our free nation.

On Veterans Day on November 11, 1985, former President Ronald W. Reagan reflected,

It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired.

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives — the one they were living and the one they would have lived.

When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.

How can we best honor and respect the sacrifices that so many servicemembers have made for us? All we can do is remember.

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once spoke to his alma mater, Xavier High School in New York City, to pay homage to the school’s tradition of military service. He spoke about how courage is the primary virtue that is fostered by military duty. He said,

I believe that military service is not only appropriate for Christians, it is conductive to Christian virtue. I know of no other profession where one commits to laying down his life for his friends.

As Jesus Christ taught, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, ESV).

Yes, military service can be a way to live out and follow the path of Christ who gave up his life for us all and for the forgiveness of our sins. It can be a path to virtue and living out a life of courage, sacrifice and love.

This Memorial Day, I’d encourage each person to do one thing to commemorate our fallen soldiers’ sacrifice. Consider visiting a local military cemetery with your children, even placing flags or flowers on the tombstones you find.

Teach your kids (in an age-appropriate manner) that the blessings we have – freedom, family, home – are paid for by the blood and sacrifice of others.

And consider planning a visit to Washington, D.C., and Arlington National Cemetery this summer. You’ll find rows and rows of white tombstones laying in a respectful silence. This quiet stillness crescendos into a clear and unmistakable proclamation about the sacrifice so many servicemembers have made to protect our nation.

All we can do is remember.

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