For many people, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. While many of us use the three day weekend to go on vacation, have cookouts, and visit family members, this is not the true reason for the holiday.
Memorial Day is a day to observe the fallen military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. While all of those things are nice, we need to make sure that we and our children understand why we celebrate Memorial Day. There are many ways we can do this.
1. Put out flags at Veteran’s cemeteries
I used to live near a huge military cemetery. Every Veteran’s and Memorial Day, the local chapters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion would put flags in front of the graves of each veteran. They also did this at the graves of veterans in other cemeteries. You can imagine this is quite a time consuming task, and occasionally they look for volunteers to help with this. What better way to observe our country’s fallen soldiers than displaying flags at their graves?
2. By visiting religious services of your choosing
Many churches across the country will observe Memorial Day with a special service or special music. Many towns and local governments also conduct interfaith services for the holiday.
3. Flying the flag half-staff until noon
If you have a flag pole, it is customary to fly your flag at half-staff until noon. If you do not have a flag pole, you may choose to fly a banner or flag simply in support of our military.
Another way to observe Memorial Day is to simply stop what youre doing at 3 P.M. local time and pause to reflect upon Memorial Day and what it means.
May we never forget the sacrifices these brave men and women made so that we could continue to live free.
Lumber in My Minivan will resume regular schedule next Tuesday. Have a safe, wonderful and reflective Memorial weekend.