A Day About Sacrifice

GRASS IN REVIEW

GRASSROOT INSTITUTE OF HAWAII

Nurturing the rights and responsibilities of the individual in a civil society.

WEEKLY GRASS IN REVIEW - May 28, 2008

A Day About Sacrifice
By Brandon Bosworth

Like so many holidays, the true meaning of Memorial Day tends to get lost in the shuffle. Newspapers tend to address the day with articles about barbecuing, travel, or how to get that great beach body. The police remind us to be wary of drunk drivers. Malls trot out their "sale event of the year!" signs for a few days, then store them away until the Fourth of July. Style traditionalists begin wearing white again.

People easily forget the whole somber nature of Memorial Day. It's one of our culture's few death-based holidays, created to honor the memory of those who have died in service to America. The beginnings of the day are disputed, particularly by the more than two dozen towns and cities across the country who claim to have originated it, though it seems to have come about in the bloody aftermath of the Civil War. Union General John Logan officially proclaimed Memorial Day on May 5th, 1868, and the holiday was first observed May 30th of that year. Within 12 years, it was recognized by all the northern states. The ever recalcitrant South refused to join-in until after World War I, preferring to celebrate its own separate-but-equal holiday to honor only those who died fighting for the Confederacy. Nowadays Memorial Day is of course a national holiday acknowledged by all the states.

That takes us back to how we actually treat Memorial Day. It's a party day, the unofficial start of summer for the solstice-challenged who can't wait until June 20th or so for the real thing. Few really give much thought to the over 653,000 Americans who have died fighting our various wars. After all, most of those drunk drivers the cops warn us about haven't been out boozing it up to drown their sorrows over our forgotten war dead. And did all those people die just so stores can unload their excess spring inventory?

None of this is to suggest Americans should spend Memorial Day in some sort of perpetual gloom, morbidly fixated on fallen servicemen. That's not really in our nature. But it would be nice if we could just take a pause here and there throughout the long weekend to ponder at least for a moment what the whole thing is really about.

Brandon Bosworth is Publications Consultant at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

COMMEMORATING MEMORIAL DAY
To honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, below are two speeches commemorating Memorial Day. One was just given by President George W. Bush; the other was given by President Ronald Reagan back in 1982. Both speeches were delivered at Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial Day, May 26, 2008
By President George W. Bush

A few moments ago, I placed a wreath upon the tomb of three brave Americans who gave their lives in service to our nation. The names of these honored are known only to the Creator who delivered them home from the anguish of war -- but their valor is known to us all...

(To read more, click here.)

Memorial Day, May 31, 1982
By President Ronald Reagan

In America's cities and towns today, flags will be placed on graves in cemeteries; public officials will speak of the sacrifice and the valor of those whose memory we honor.

In 1863, when he dedicated a small cemetery in Pennsylvania marking a terrible collision between the armies of North and South, Abraham Lincoln noted the swift obscurity of such speeches. Well, we know now that Lincoln was wrong about that particular occasion. His remarks commemorating those who gave their "last full measure of devotion" were long remembered. But since that moment at Gettysburg, few other such addresses have become part of our national heritage—not because of the inadequacy of the speakers, but because of the inadequacy of words.

(To read more, click here.)

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FRESH PERSPECTIVE

Opportunity for Young Adults:
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii created the Fresh Perspective column exclusively to publish the work of high school and college students. In addition to work appearing on GRIH’s website, their work is also submitted to Hawaii Reporter. Submissions are welcome from any interested young adult, and we will publish work that is clearly written and grammatically sound. For earlier Fresh Perspectives please click here.

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