Memorial Day Traditions

Another Memorial Day has past, ironically, hardly recognized.  Every year in the U.S. Memorial Day  falls at the end of May. But it seems now to be a little recognized "holiday". I guess it proves that remembering people who died in war isn't a celebratory gesture. It should be of a more personal and quiet recognition. There are many reasons it is tragic when a soldier dies, but the biggest one may be the age of the deceased. Whenever a young strong person dies "early" it seems like he or she has been cheated out of what is natural human life span. All the experiences we face in life, good and bad, should be a human entitlement.  It is the same kind of situation as when a child dies before the parent's death. That just shouldn't happen that way. I think our human nature is to be far more concerned, when the one who passed away hasn't been given a normal time span in which to life his or her life.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day, mostly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave and there are some ritual practices at the cemetery. It's quite a solemn time. I suppose most nations celebrate a kind of Memorial Day. I do know the Russians make it a very big day in their lives, probably because so many Russians were slaughtered in W.W. I and W.W. II.  Just about every Russian citizen has personal ties to soldiers or civilians killed in those wars. Seeing the old Russian men dressed in their military uniforms of long ago is touching in a way.

One the other side of the view of Memorial Day is the fact that many people, like me, have never been touched by death of a family member in a military conflict. They have no family members or any relatives impacted that way. So their reaction to Memorial Day is often to just ignore the holiday. I do that, and I served in the navy after I graduated from college. Memorial Day is one of those national holidays that has a schizophrenic profile. It is recognized with seriousness or completely ignored. There is very little reaction to it in between those two extremes. Anyway, if your own family has been touched by a war time death at the hands of a combatant,  remember the loss for both the deceased sake and out of respect for society as a whole.