Memorial Day

I read something the other day about one of the first Memorial Days happening in the years following the Civil War with the decoration of Union and Confederate soldiers' graves. I wanted to know more about the history of the day, so I checked out Wikipedia.

I was surprised to learn that the holiday was known as Decoration Day until officially changed in 1967, that it was celebrated on May 30th (since that was not an anniversary of a Civil War battle) until 1969 when the holiday was moved to create a 3-day weekend, and that that change has opponents who believe it "has undermined the very meaning of the day".

Hard to dispute that, given I was unaware of its history and have only celebrated it by not working and maybe doing some sort of barbecue. It's mostly known as the start of summer, despite the fact that, even here in Seattle, summer has already arrived.

I'm not sure what we can do to change how we celebrate this holiday. Given that our country is currently fighting in several countries around the world, with hundreds of soldiers dying in active service every year, it seems like we should be doing more. Of course, it would make more sense to me to honor those still serving our country, and by doing something more than the recent trend to say it with automotive decorations.

My friend Dan sent me a URL awhile ago, http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html. It's a site that allows you to send messages to those serving out country today. Maybe in this electronic age, reaching out one on one is more meaningful than the parades or wreath-layings of the past.