Just what is Memorial Day?

Before you go off bargain hunting in the nearest town or shopping mall, take a moment to reflect on the importance of Memorial Day.

Today, most of us have forgotten the origins of Memorial Day and the significance the day  plays in honoring those of all nations who protect and serve in the armed forces. On all sides.

When Union General John Logan proclaimed the day of remembrance on May 5, 1868, he did so to honor both the South and the North. It took a few years to be recognized by all the northern states and, of course, the South (bitterly opposed to Yankees telling them when to remember their dead Civil War soldiers) took even longer. It was not until the end of the First World War that all of America observed the day of remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery, although several southern states have an additional day for honoring the Confederate war dead.

Memorial Day is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday in May instead of May 30, changed to make sure the day morphed into a three-day weekend break. There are several bills before Congress to change the day back to May 30 since mall shopping sprees are hardly in keeping with a true day of remembrance.

Then there is the issue of the poppies worn by many, especially by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the people of Europe, especially in Britain. This was an American innovation. It happened like this:

In 1915 there was a poem, “In Flanders Fields,� by Colonel John McCrae, with the lines, “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.�

Moved by this poem, Moina Belle Michael from Georgia decided everyone should wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. Wearing the first one, she started fundraising campaigns by selling poppies to friends and co-workers, the proceeds benefiting servicemen in need.

When Madam Guerin visited the United States and then returned to France, she made artificial poppies and raised money for war-orphaned children and widowed women. From there the U.S. tradition spread to Britain (where it is almost 100  percent accepted) and the rest of Europe (not as widely accepted).

Mostly, poppies in Europe are worn on Remembrance Day, which is Nov. 11. But here, in America, we still can get them from the VFW — if the VFW remembers to order them in time. If they do not have any, go to the VFW store online and buy your wife, girlfriend or yourself a set of poppy earrings. Start a trend, telling people that at least you do not forget. And, at the very least, at 3 p.m. on May 30, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, stop, stand, bow your head and remember the fallen in times of war.

They say history is bound to repeat if you do not learn from your mistakes. Similarly, sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance. If you want to make sure you and your children do not have to repeat the carnage of generations before, as service men and women gave their lives in the struggle for freedom, recall and be aware of and pay respect to the deaths of your fellow countrymen and women during wartime.

Peter Riva, formerly of Amenia Union, lives in New Mexico.