Memorial Day is more than just a 3 day weekend and the (unofficial) start of summer. Our pal mental_floss has a neat article explaining how Memorial Day came to be:
Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the North and South led to spontaneous commemorations of the dead:
• In 1864, women from Boalsburg, Pa., put flowers on the graves of their dead from the just-fought Battle of Gettysburg. The next year, a group of women decorated the graves of soldiers buried in a Vicksburg, Miss., cemetery.
• In April 1866, women from Columbus, Miss., laid flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers. It was recognized at the time as an act of healing sectional wounds. In the same month, up in Carbondale, Ill., 219 Civil War veterans marched through town in memory of the fallen to Woodlawn Cemetery, where Union hero Maj. Gen. John A. Logan delivered the principal address. The ceremony gave Carbondale its claim to the first organized, community-wide Memorial Day observance.
• Waterloo, N.Y., began holding an annual community service on May 5, 1866. Although many towns claimed the title, it was Waterloo that won congressional recognition as the “birthplace of Memorial Day.”
Happy Memorial Day, everyone!
Actually, I have served my country in uniform thanks very much, and met some fine people - I also met some extremely marginally psychotic people who should never be allowed around sharp objects let alone firearms.
Sevice should be tempered with education, not used as a ticket to one.
Masturbate more for your failed war in Iraq ("Mission Accomplished" banner was hilarious) while your gas prices go up! up!! up!!!
Freedom of speech is free until you make waves then they fly you out to torture you until you agree to not think different.