Memorial weekend is here and you know what that means - a three-day weekend! Here come the backyard barbeques and camping trips galore. It’s holidays like these that gives everyone a break from their everyday lives and just relax and enjoy themselves, whether with friends or family.
But do you really know true meaning of this day off? We can get wrapped up in our personal lives, and forget the true reason why we are even taking the day off in the first place. This thought came to mind when talking to a friend about memorial day weekend and what their plans for the upcoming three-day weekend were. For a mere second, we desensitized the fact that it is a remembrance holiday and forgot the true importance of what Memorial day even means to our country. Suddenly we both felt guilty and felt the need to fit into our weekend to do something along the lines of a visit a cemetery or a trip to a war museum (or something!).
It’s the National day of remembrance, but do you actually take the time to remember our fallen soldiers? I know that the thought of those who died in service doesn’t really cross my mind when I’m camping out for the weekend with my family. It’s strange to have a holiday so important, but yet the importance isn’t really prevalent in today’s society. For some reason, it seems as though there is a need for toys, candy and food to make a holiday’s true meaning memorable, but unfortunately memorial day doesn’t come with those bells and whistles. But if you ask any veteran, this holiday means just as much as any other, because they know first-hand what this day means to them.
Just to make you feel a little bit better about this day of remembrance, here are a couple fun-facts to get you thinking about what makes this day a truly honorable one.
- We have been celebrating Memorial Day since 1866, the 150th year anniversary is this year!
- The day was created to remember the fallen soldiers from the civil war, in which 620,000 died.
- Back in the year 2000, President Clinton signed the law that requires on Memorial Day for all Americans at 3pm to stop what they are doing on Memorial Day to honor those who have died in service for the United States.
- Just on Memorial day, the flag is flown at half-mast until noon, and then raised to full mast till sunset.
- One tradition is to picnic on the actual grounds of a cemetery.
- There were more American lives lost during the Civil War than the two World Wars combined! 620,000 died during the Civil War while 116,516 died in World War I and 405,399 died in World War II.
All I can ask of you during this weekend, is to take the time to remember those who have given you the opportunity to have this day off from work/school. I mean, technically by law you have to at 3pm!
