For many, Memorial Day has lost meaning
ANNVIL L E , PA . — A l l i s o n Jaslow heard it more than once as the long holiday weekend approached — a c heer f ul “Happy Memorial Day!” from oblivious well-wishers.
The former Army captain and Iraq War veteran had a ready reply, telling them, matter-of-factly, that she considered it a work weekend. Jaslow will be at Arlington National Cemetery today to take part in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown S ol di e r. S he’ l l t hen v i s i t Section 60, the final resting place of many service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You can see it in people’s faces that they’re a little horrifified that they forget this is what the day’s about,” said Jaslow, 34, who wears a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen comrade. “Culturally, we’ve kind of lost sight of what the day’s supposed to mean.”
While millions of Ameri c a ns c e l e brat e t he l ong Memorial Day weekend as the unoffifficial start of summer, s ome ve te ra ns and loved ones of fallen military members wish the holiday that honors more than 1 million people who died serving their country would command more respect. Or at least awareness. “It’s a fun holiday for people: ‘Let’s party.’ It’s an extra day off from work,” said Carol Resh, 61, whose son, Army Capt. Mark Resh, was killed in Iraq a decade ago. “It’s not that they’re doing it out of malice. It just hasn’t affffffffffffected them.”
Ve t e r a n s g rou p s s ay a growing military-civilian disconnect contributes to a feeling that Memorial Day has been overshadowed. More than 12 percent of the U.S. population ser ved in the armed forces during World War II. That’s down to less than one- half of a percent today, guaranteeing more Americans aren’t personally acquainted with a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine.
Wi t h a n a l l - v o l u n t a r y military, shared sacrififice is largely a thing of the past — even as U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan and Iraq nearly 16 years after 9/11.
“There are a lot of things working against this particu- lar holiday,” said Brian Duffffffffffffy, commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
“It hurts,” Duffffffffffffy said. For combat veterans and Gold Star families especially, “it hurts that, as a society, we don’t truly understand and appreciate what the true meaning of Memorial Day is.”
Jaslow’s group, Iraq and Af g ha ni s t a n Ve t e r a ns o f America, is trying to raise awareness with its #GoSilent campaign, which encourages Americans to pause for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Monday to remember the nation’s war dead.
Of course, plenty of Americans already observe the holiday. At Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia, fresh flflowers mark hundreds of graves, and fifields of newly erected American flflags flflap in the breeze. Hundreds of motorcyclists thundered in for a Saturday service. By the end of the weekend, thousands of people will have come to the cemetery to pay their respects.
“This is our Super Bowl,” said Randy Plummer, the cemetery’s administrative offifficer.
Jim Segletes, 65, a Vietnam-era Marine visiting the grave of his father-in-law, a World War II veteran who died in 2000, said he thinks Americans became more patriotic and aware of military sacrififice after 9/11.
“Everyone is more in tune with veterans, more so than when I was in the service,” he said.
Douglas and Rene Kicklighter, Iraq veterans at the cemetery with their 10- and 12-year-old sons, said they believe most people understand what the holiday ’s about. But they, too, cringe when they hear: “Happy Memorial Day.”
“It’s not happy,” said Rene Kicklighter, 37, who retired f ro m t he Ar my Nat i o na l Guard. “It’s somber. I try to flflip the lens on the conversation a bit and gently remind them what it’s really about.”
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was conceived after the Civil War as a way to honor Union war dead, with Southern states setting aside separate days to honor fallen Confederate soldiers.
S o m e v e t e r a n s s a y Memorial Day began to be watered down more than four decades ago when Congress changed the date from its traditional May 30 to the last Monday in May to give people a three-day weekend. Arguing that transformed a solemn day of remembrance into one associated with leisure and recreation, veterans groups have long advocated a return to May 30.