Memorial Day Celebrations

Growing up in the Military, I'm always amazed by the behaviors of non-Military families during Memorial Day weekend. Not that what they do is wrong. It's just different. I'm also amazed that we do so much more to celebrate our soldiers during Veterans Day than we do on Memorial Day. Again, nothing wrong in this. Veterans Day is for living soldiers and Memorial Day is for our fallen soldiers. Or so I thought. My curiosity around this subject stems more from how Memorial Day has morphed from celebrating US soldiers to celebrating anyone that has passed. I somehow feel that those soldiers that lost their lives in combat or while serving in the US Military are getting short staffed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and we place flags on US soldiers' graves every Memorial Day so they do receive thanks in some way. There are also other organizations that do this as well. I'm more curious about how both holidays have changed over time, so I went on a quest to investigate further.

Veteran's Day started off as Armistice Day and turned out to celebrate all US veterans, not just the living. It originally was for US veterans of World War I, and expanded to all US veterans officially during Eisenhower's presidential term.  Memorial Day is for all US veterans that actually lost their life during their military service period. So, even I (and the DAR as well as other organizations that place flags on service personnel graves) seem to have morphed Memorial Day into a day celebrating all US veterans that have passed no matter what the reason or when.

In investigating Memorial Day, I found something rather interesting. Historically, they believe  Memorial Day originated as the annual Decoration Day which started in the South where families typically all got together like a family reunion and decorated the long- and recently-passed graves of their family members. This extended to soldiers' graves during and after the Civil War. Northern families picked up the practice and eventually everything was merged together in 1882 (officially in 1967) as Memorial Day.

Throughout the years there have been complaints that Memorial Day has morphed into an excuse for families to get together, BBQ, play games, and even watch car races simply forgetting that the holiday is about remembering the solders that fought and ultimately died for their freedom. But now I wonder if these complaints have any merit.

Living on Military bases most of my life, both holidays were celebrated on the parade grounds with lots of military pomp and circumstance. There were many loud booms as cannons roared, rifles fired and the air always smelled of gun powder. I remember one Memorial Day spent at Arlington Cemetery. That was so spectacular that I still remember it vividly and I was only a child of possibly five or six. Beautiful fluttering flags everywhere and all the men in dress blues among the stark green lawn and marble-white headstones. Those are my memories of Memorial Day. I don't remember picnics or decorating family members' graves, nor do I remember anything about car racing. I remember the somber, yet respectful tribute to those who served in the United States Military.

However....

Veterans Day has always been about Military service to America. It hasn't morphed much over the years. So maybe I've been looking at this all wrong. If Memorial Day originally started as a way for families to get together and celebrate both their living members as well as decorate their lost loved-ones... the holiday hasn't morphed at all. It's stayed true to its original Southern tradition just like sweet tea, fried catfish, and sweet potato pie. It's now over 200 years and we continue to place decorations on our grandparents' graves or tiny American flags on our uncle's resting place. The rest of America may think they invented Memorial Day, and that it's morphed into something new... But it hasn't. They have merely succumbed and embraced the Southern tradition of memorializing everyone: living or dead.