Memorial Day - Decoration Day

Memorial Day is a day marked by solemn military and government observances and local parades through the nation; many families also observe the day as one of personal tribute and reflection by decorating the graves of family members, both veterans and non-veterans. In recent years commercial enterprises have promoted the holiday as a 3-day kickoff to summer and family activities. As a result, the true meaning and history has grown slightly obscured in times of peace.

Each Memorial Day the president or vice president visits Arlington National Cemetery and lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Military honor guards fire their rifles in salute, speakers help the public remember the real meaning for Memorial Day, and parades featuring representatives of the armed forces, veterans organizations and veterans take place in communities large and small. Flags on public buildings fly at half staff until noon, then raise to the top of the flagpole for the rest of the day.

Most communities conduct cemetery ceremonies and place flags and/or flowers on the graves of veterans and hold public assemblies to honor local veterans who served in all campaigns and service branches. Taps played by a lone bugler, rifle shot salutes and placement of flags on graves or floral wreaths at monuments are all part of the day's observances. Following these solemn ceremonies, many communities sponsor picnics or other family gatherings to celebrate the memory of those honored earlier in the day.

Memorial Day is observed on the third Monday in May.

The official date of celebration for Memorial Day changed in 1971 to the third Monday in May by an act of Congress, to establish a long weekend for the holiday observance. A few states in the US still observe May 30 as Memorial Day (New Hampshire is one state that still observes May 30 as a state Memorial Day holiday) in addition to the federal holiday; some southern states also observe a different day as a Confederate war dead holiday.

Other nations observe days of reverence and honor for their war and service veterans, including Australia, Canada and most European countries. Most nations, including the US, observe 11 November as Remembrance Day or Veterans Day.

The red poppy is the traditional flower to honor and commemorate veterans in North America, Europe and Australia. The red poppy was made famous by a poem - In Flanders Fields - written during World War I by Canadian army surgeon Lt. Col. John McCrae.Because of the oem's popularity, the red poppy was adopted as the Remembrance Flower for war dead of Britain, France, the United States, Canada and other Commonwealth countries. On Memorial Day, many US veterans wear a red lapel poppy to honor their fallen soldier buddies.

Non-veterans also wear the Buddy Poppy to honor those who died protecting our freedom. Since 1924, disabled veterans - who receive compensation for their work - have assembled Buddy Poppies in hospitals and "Poppy shops."

The VFW and American Legion Auxiliary distribute the official Buddy Poppies freely to the public in time for Memorial Day ceremonies, accepting only contributions for the poppies. All contributions received in exchange for Buddy Poppies go directly to fund assistance programs for needy or disabled veterans and to the immediate family survivors of fallen veterans.

When I was a child, we all learned this poem as part of our reading and penmanship classes during the month of May.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly.
Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields