This coming Monday is Memorial Day. These days it often is filled with sales galore on electronics, things for Summer and three day weekend and firing up the grill. The historical value of the day has shifted.
Memorial Day was begun three years after the War Between the States ended (that’s a southern expression BTW, since war is NOT civil in any way), on May 5,1868. There were very few in the country that had not been touched by losing a loved one in the war,700 thousand! The official day was moved to May 30, since flowers to decorate the graves of the fallen would be in bloom all over the country. A solemn day, filled with decorating the graves, speeches, hymns and remembrance. The day has grown to include the fallen from every war this country has been involved in. No matter how unpopular.
On this Memorial Day, no matter what you think of the government, the laws of the land (after all, it is your right to speak your mind), take time to reflect on those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for you to be able to voice that opinion, to live as you believe. Thank those who served, are serving for their contribution to your freedoms that you take for granted everyday.