Today is Memorial Day.Not by the calendar. Not by Congress' proclamation of 1971. Not by the many ceremonies scheduled to honor those who have died in service to their nation. Those say the holiday is Monday.
Today is Memorial Day by order of Gen. John A. Logan, who as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic more than a century ago wrote:
"The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated 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. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit."
Like so many of our national holidays, the transformation of the holiday to a Monday to make a three-day weekend - a matter of convenience - has sapped some of the meaning from Memorial Day.
It is the beginning of summer, a day for barbecues and trips to the lake, a vacation. But we implore you to remember the real meaning of the day.
A reader recently sent us photographs of U.S. troops in Iraq sleeping on an asphalt highway, of a soldier trying to rest in the midst of a blinding sandstorm, and of another soldier grabbing a snack in a mud bunker. "Count your blessings," he wrote. "Pray for them."
Yes, count your blessings and enjoy the freedom you have this holiday weekend while troops half a world away risk their lives to preserve it. And above all remember those who will never come home to share that freedom with us.
"If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust," wrote Gen. Logan, "ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us."
