Words matter.
Since Bredemarket works in words, let’s examine the word “memorial.”
The Merriam-Webster definitions of the adjective or noun primarily emphasize remembrance or commemoration. In the general sense, a memorial doesn’t necessarily require some type of life or death struggle.
Heck, the final episode of the TV show M*A*S*H can, and has, been memorialized. After all, the episode title incorporates the sacred word “Amen” into its title (“Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen”). And when you say Amen, you always explore Deep Meaning.
Forever and Ever, Amen anyone?
OK, in truth a memorial can be rather pedestrian. (Although I like Randy Travis.)
But when people in the United States encounter Memorial Day, the importance may escalate.
Or it may not, if you merely think of Memorial Day as Pool Opening Day or Get Propane for the Grill Day.
But this is the time that Americans who have fought in wars and police actions remind the rest of us that Memorial Day is not Veterans Day. Here is what American Legion Post 304 says, in part, about Memorial Day.
“Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, is a day to honor members of the military who were killed in service, both during deployments overseas or in training and service in the U.S. Across the country, Americans spend the day visiting cemeteries, attending Memorial Day events and otherwise honoring those who lost their lives in service to the country.”
To be blunt about it, Memorial Day is a day about death, and if you can’t handle this truth, go back to the pool.
For example, the National World War II Museum notes that 407,316 U.S. military personnel were killed in World War II. This does not denigrate the civilian losses in Hawaii and elsewhere, nor does it denigrate the sacrifices outside of this country (24 million in the USSR alone), nor does it denigrate the losses in other wars.
But, as American Legion Post 304 reminds us, words matter.
“Because Memorial Day is a somber day to honor those who died in service to the country, saying “Happy Memorial Day” is considered to be in bad taste. For those who have lost family or friends through military service, the day is far from happy.”
And while John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” is primarily associated throughout the world with Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the U.S.), in this country the subject matter of the poem naturally lends itself to Memorial Day observances.
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
“We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
“Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.”
(Riverside National Cemetery picture Sigris Lopez, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.)
Bredemarket 