Memorial Day must not be trivialized
Could you pass a Memorial Day quiz?
Try a few sample questions:
1) What was it originally called?
2) It initially honored lives lost in one specific war. Which one?
3) On what date was the holiday previously marked? 4) When was it moved to the last Monday in May?
5) What is flag protocol on Memorial Day?
OK, how’d you do? The answers are 1) Decoration Day; 2) the Civil War; 3) May 30; 4) Congress decided in 1968 to pass the Uniform Monday Holiday Act; 5) Flags are quickly raised to full-staff position, then slowly dropped to half-staff, remaining there from sunrise until noon.
Too tough? Here’s a more recent bonus challenge: 6) At what time on the holiday should we pause to honor those who died to shield our freedoms?
The answer is 3 p.m., in accordance with the National Moment of Remembrance Act passed by Congress in 2000.
It’s OK to be somewhat unfamiliar with the trivia around this federal holiday, but it’s important to clearly recognize Memorial Day’s intent. History lacks precision on its origins. Sometime about 150 years ago, someone posited that time be set aside to contemplate the sacrifices of those who gave their lives for our nation.
We shouldn’t need such reminders, yet even with a date on the calendar, Memorial Day retains something of an identity crisis. Too many people confuse it with Veterans Day (that’s Nov. 11) or the start of summer (a full three weeks from now).
Barbecues, parties and appliance sales have been a distraction for decades. In Connecticut, other recent dates in our history — 9/11 and 12/14 — have become more synonymous as days of mourning. But the breadth of loss linked to Memorial Day remains impossible to process.
The events of the past year of COVID-19 sparked a different call for personal sacrifice, from doctors, nurses, police, firefighters, EMS, educators, volunteers, store clerks, and yes, our military. We were also reminded routinely of the fragility of life itself, as daily death tolls were marked on charts as though we were engaged in a traditional war.
We lost the tradition of parades in 2020, and some towns tentatively revived events this year. It’s an opportunity to reconsider and revitalize a holiday that should never be taken for granted. Let this be a reset for Memorial Day.
There are ways to honor our heroes, even in the absence of parades. Pause to contemplate the names engraved on monuments throughout Connecticut, or the flags that offer temporary splashes of color across acres of gray graveyards, like the sun peeking through rain clouds.
Reach out to a veteran, or explore family history, to learn more about the people Memorial Day is intended to honor.
If nothing else, celebrate your freedoms this Memorial Day, fully aware of those who died to preserve them. The only answer that really matters responds to one evergreen question: Are we closer to war or to peace?