Mike Parker: Has ‘Memorial Day’ become just another three-day weekend?

Believe it or not, today is not Memorial Day. May 30 is the real Memorial Day. On a good calendar, you will see a notation that says of today, May 25, “Memorial Day observed.” Sadly, despite the calendar’s notation, few will observe the spirit of Memorial Day today.

Moving the “observance” of Memorial Day to the fourth Monday has turned a day intended for mourning, respectful remembrance, and soul-searching into another day for barbecuing, shopping, and relaxation.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars’ website contended, “changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”

Memorial Day, like most genuine observances, began privately when a group of Southern women visited battlefields shortly after the Civil War ended – perhaps even during the war. These women decided that instead of decorating only the graves of the Southern dead, they would honor all those who fought and died on those fields, regardless of whether they wore gray or blue.

Their generosity of spirit, a generosity exhibited in the face of bitter defeat and financial ruin, touched many in the North. To think that a group of Southern women would honor not only their own dead, but also the dead of the enemy, struck a chord.

On May 5, 1868, Gen. John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued General Order #11. Logan designated May 30 “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land.”

Gen. Logan’s order captured the spirit of what Memorial Day should be. His order said: “Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

For years, Logan’s words governed the observance of Memorial Day. Then, something changed. The “observance” moved from May 30 to the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend. Retailers loved the change. Those who understood the true meaning of Memorial Day hated it.

Some worked to restore the solemn character of the day. On Jan. 19, 1999, Sen. David Inouye of Hawaii introduced a bill to observe Memorial Day on May 30. He said, “Instead of using Memorial Day as a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans in combat, many Americans use the day as a celebration of the beginning of summer. My bill would restore Memorial Day to May 30 and authorize our flag to fly at half mast on that day.”

A website dedicated to restoring the true character of Memorial Day suggests a trade-off. First, we should observe Armed Forces Day on the third Monday in May and make it a national holiday of celebration. We should then observe Memorial Day on May 30. Website organizer David Merchant made this point: “On [Armed Forces Day] holiday we can go out and enjoy and celebrate the freedoms won and maintained by our Armed Forces; on Memorial Day we can solemnly reflect upon the high cost of that freedom.”

If you are tired of seeing Memorial Day forgotten and its purpose neglected, I invite you to visit www.usmemorialday.org and join the fight to restore the true nature of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day should not be a spring fling between a pre-summer sale and summer proper. We need to reflect on the multiplied tens of thousands of men and women who sacrificed themselves for our collective liberty. They paid for the high cost of our freedom with their breath and blood.

Mike Parker is a columnist for The Free Press. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.