Memorial Day and What It Means

While Memorial Day in the United States can involve fun things like parades, picnics, and time with family, when you think about the intent of this day it suddenly seems highly inappropriate to wish someone a “Happy Memorial Day” or tell them to “Enjoy the long weekend.”

Memorial Day is a special day we set aside to remember and honor US military members who died in service to the nation. The federal holiday closures and time off work are done, in theory, to give us time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice these service members made to protect and defend our nation. While any day is appropriate to thank living service members and veterans, this holiday is specifically focused on the deceased.

The activities we engage in on Memorial Day should honor their memory and their—and their families’—sacrifices for the sake of others. I believe the deceased service members would want us to enjoy the long weekend, and all the picnic trimmings and patriotic decorations that go with it, knowing that their personal sacrifice helped us live in peace, prosperity, and togetherness. We should not feel guilty about celebrating Memorial Day or spending time together to enjoy the long weekend, but while doing so, are you also taking time to celebrate them this weekend?

In practice, I doubt many Americans spend even one minute of their long weekend honoring our war dead despite the eternal absence of the deceased. Instead of remembering our fallen soldiers, many people are forgetting them—and the somber meaning behind this day. Is it too much to ask to remember them in return for what they did for us? Not at all!

Even if you don’t personally know a fallen service member, you can still honor the more than 1.1 million US soldiers who have died during or as a result of combat. You could volunteer to clean up or post flags or wreaths at gravesites, help widows and orphans by baking them a casserole or mowing their lawn, support or donate to charities for US military families and wounded soldiers, host or attend parades and ceremonies in your hometown, and the like. You could even just raise a glass and toast the fallen at your family picnic.

Please remember: For those families left behind grieving at gravesites with an empty place at the picnic table, the day is not a happy day to enjoy—nor is the long weekend or the long years ahead without a husband, father, son, or brother; a wife, mother, daughter, or sister. So, let’s also remember the families today, along with the loved ones they’ve lost, and rethink how we celebrate Memorial Day.

Now, take a minute—just one minute of the 1,440 minutes you have today—to truly remember, honor, thank, and appreciate those who have given all for you by watching this video. Thank you.