After World War I, the day’s purpose expanded to honor the fallen in all America’s wars. Decoration Day became Memorial Day as the day became less an occasion for cleaning grave sites and more a time to remember and appreciate those who lost their lives while on active duty. In America, the poppy (Papaver rhoeas), a flower representing both loss of life and its recovery, symbolizes the day.

In 1971 Congress declared Memorial Day as a national holiday celebrated the last Monday in May, and Memorial Day Weekend began marking the informal start of summer.

NATIONAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC

Ceremonies honoring the fallen are held throughout our country. In Hawai`i the primary location is at the National Cemetary of the Pacific. The cemetery lies in Pūowaina Crater, legacy of an extinct volcano. Pūowaina translates as “Hill of Sacrifice,” an ancient site where offenders of Hawaiian kapu were sacrificed.

The American Battle Monuments Commission erected the Honolulu Memorial in the Court of Honor. The image is variously called Lady Columbia or Lady Liberty or Justice. She represents the grieving mothers who have lost their children to war. Lady Columbia stands on the bow of a ship, holding a laurel branch. The inscription below is taken from a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to a grieving mother: The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. I don’t know if she agreed with her president’s assessment, but I hope his words gave her comfort.

This year Memorial Day events commence at 8:30 a.m. There will be speeches, a wreath presentation, a cannon salute, a flyover by the U. S Air Force and the Hawaii Air National Guard, the playing of taps, and performances by the Royal Hawaiian Band. Members of the Boy Scouts of Hawai`i will place approximately 38,000 lei on grave sites within the cemetery. Thus do we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons:

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Seiji Maehara places a wreath to honor U. S. service members killed throughout the Pacific, 2010. Public Domain.

Lady Columbia by Daniel Ramirez. Creative Commons Attribution.

Visitors walk past grave markers with American flags, 2013. Public Domain.

Civil war dead honored on decoration day. History.

Puowaina (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific). Historic Hawai`i Foundation.

When is Memorial Day? The Old Farmer’s Almanac

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There are 147 national cemeteries across the United States. In addition the American Battle Monuments Commission maintains twenty-five American burial grounds overseas, most caring for the remains of men killed in World Wars I and II.

Like Arlington, the American Military Cemetary at Normandy, France is well-maintained. A silent witness to battles we seldom think about any more.

Commemorative ceremonies occur to break up the stillness. This photo depicts members of the American and Philippines military participating in a 2014 Memorial Day Ceremony at the Manila American Cemetery.

After the American civil war veterans of the Union army established what was first called Decoration Day as a time to place flowers on the graves of Union war dead. They chose May 30 as the date, because no particular battle had been fought that day. Over time, the day to honor those who died in battle became known as Memorial Day.

Take a moment to remember why we honor Memorial Day.

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Featured Image: Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, 2012. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Pictures:

American Military Cemetery at Normandy. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Members of U.S. And Philippine military at 2014 Memorial Day ceremony at the Manila American Cemetery. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Roll Call of Honor in Remembrance Ceremony, National Cemetery of the Pacific, 2007. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
American Battle Monuments Commission
Memorial Day 2014 at Manila American Cemetery

The post MEMORIAL DAY – A Time to Remember first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

In 1967 Congress recognized Memorial Day as the day we remember fallen comrades. Observances include placing flowers and flags on graves in our National Cemeteries.

The United States has engaged in numerous conflicts. I’ve listed a sampling below. It excludes wars before 1861, forays into Latin America, and conflicts with Native Americans. The list is still impressive.

1861-1865 – American Civil War
1898 – Spanish-American War
1917-1918 World War I [once called the “war to end all wars”]
1941-1945 World War II
1950-1953 Korean Conflict
1965-1973 Vietnam War
1990-1991 Gulf War
2001 – ongoing War in Afghanistan
2003-2011 Iraq War

The cost of conflict is great. Young lives are cut short, like petals in the wind. Hundreds of thousands of young men and women return maimed in body and mind. Friends and family members struggle to accept the new reality of their loved ones’ lives. What, one may wonder, is the purpose of it all?

In 1981 Kelly Strong wrote a poem to honor his father, a Marine who served in the Vietnam War. He was a senior in high school at the time. When Strong contemplated the question of whether the price of freedom was worth the human cost, he concluded that freedom isn’t free.

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought… how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?

How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom is not free.

Today of all days, let us take a moment not to judge whether young Americans should be sent into war zones but to be grateful for the sacrifices they made. Their service is part of who we are as a nation.

Acknowledgements:
Featured Image The American Flag, Public Domain

Complete poem “Freedom is not Free” Here.

Estimates of war dead taken from Civil War Trust. Here.

“Freedom Isn’t Free – Memorial Day by the Numbers.” Forbes. May 19, 2015. Here.

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