Memorial Day
Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 7:02 am
“A Moment of Remembrance”
by Chris Neeley
Monday unofficially marks the beginning of summer. It also represents one of the most important, yet least understood holidays of the year.
Monday is a national holiday in America. For most Americans this means a three-day weekend filled with relaxation, a short getaway and cookouts with family and friends.
Personally, I look forward to spending a day with my family – playing with the kids -- eating chilled watermelon, and spending time on the beautiful beaches of Brunswick County. Hopefully, I can finish that book that’s been collecting dust on my bedside.
As we prepare for the long weekend and the short week to come, I think it is highly appropriate that we also take time to remember the real reason for this holiday.
Monday is Memorial Day. A day designated for the remembrance of those brave souls who died in defense of our freedoms in the battles and wars of yesterday and today.
Sadly, most Americans today are not aware of the true meaning of Memorial Day.
A recent poll showed that only 28% of Americans know the real meaning of Memorial Day. Apparently, most Americans think Memorial Day is just another holiday marked by the opening of most public swimming pools and the end of another school year.
Many of you might ask, as I did, how can someone in America today not understand the true meaning of Memorial Day? After all, we are all witnesses to the sacrifices our young men and women make everyday in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This Memorial Day let’s take time to honor those patriots who lit, carried, and continue to carry the torch of freedom for all of us.
You can do this by:
* Explaining to your children and grandchildren the true meaning of Memorial Day.
* Fly an American Flag at home or on your car.
* Participate in or attend a Memorial Day event in your community.
* Thank a Veteran.
* Buy a dozen carnations or American Flags and place them on the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
* And on Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., stop what you’re doing and join your fellow citizens in a National Moment of Remembrance for our nation’s fallen heroes.
Abraham Lincoln once stated, “The mystic cords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart…should swell into a mighty chorus of remembrance, gratitude and rededication on this solemn occasion.”
Is it too much to ask for one minute of remembrance for the brave patriotic souls of America?
After all, we live in the most prosperous and free land in all the history of mankind thanks to the sacrifices of those brave souls.
President Reagan, speaking at Arlington National Cemetery once spoke these words “It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. The imagination sees these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like a Founding Father, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives – the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chances to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.”
On Monday let’s allow their spirit of freedom to live within each of us so the light of liberty and freedom can shine for forever.
by Chris Neeley
Monday unofficially marks the beginning of summer. It also represents one of the most important, yet least understood holidays of the year.
Monday is a national holiday in America. For most Americans this means a three-day weekend filled with relaxation, a short getaway and cookouts with family and friends.
Personally, I look forward to spending a day with my family – playing with the kids -- eating chilled watermelon, and spending time on the beautiful beaches of Brunswick County. Hopefully, I can finish that book that’s been collecting dust on my bedside.
As we prepare for the long weekend and the short week to come, I think it is highly appropriate that we also take time to remember the real reason for this holiday.
Monday is Memorial Day. A day designated for the remembrance of those brave souls who died in defense of our freedoms in the battles and wars of yesterday and today.
Sadly, most Americans today are not aware of the true meaning of Memorial Day.
A recent poll showed that only 28% of Americans know the real meaning of Memorial Day. Apparently, most Americans think Memorial Day is just another holiday marked by the opening of most public swimming pools and the end of another school year.
Many of you might ask, as I did, how can someone in America today not understand the true meaning of Memorial Day? After all, we are all witnesses to the sacrifices our young men and women make everyday in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This Memorial Day let’s take time to honor those patriots who lit, carried, and continue to carry the torch of freedom for all of us.
You can do this by:
* Explaining to your children and grandchildren the true meaning of Memorial Day.
* Fly an American Flag at home or on your car.
* Participate in or attend a Memorial Day event in your community.
* Thank a Veteran.
* Buy a dozen carnations or American Flags and place them on the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
* And on Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., stop what you’re doing and join your fellow citizens in a National Moment of Remembrance for our nation’s fallen heroes.
Abraham Lincoln once stated, “The mystic cords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart…should swell into a mighty chorus of remembrance, gratitude and rededication on this solemn occasion.”
Is it too much to ask for one minute of remembrance for the brave patriotic souls of America?
After all, we live in the most prosperous and free land in all the history of mankind thanks to the sacrifices of those brave souls.
President Reagan, speaking at Arlington National Cemetery once spoke these words “It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. The imagination sees these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like a Founding Father, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives – the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chances to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.”
On Monday let’s allow their spirit of freedom to live within each of us so the light of liberty and freedom can shine for forever.