Memorial Day

3 05, 2021

Busy, Busy Month of May

By |2021-05-02T12:59:07-05:00May 3rd, 2021|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

May and December always seem busier months than the other ten.

December is busy with all the holiday preparation and gatherings.

May signals the beginning of summer and all those fun outdoor activities start–cookouts, swim parties, ball games, etc.

Plus, May hosts lots of end-of-school/graduation ceremonies, weddings, and Cinco de Mayo parties, if you live in Texas.

If you have a military background, you know May is also filled with lots of military-centered observances. I’ve listed six below.

May 1 – Silver Star Banner Day – Per Congressional resolution, it is an “Official Day to honor wounded, ill, and injured Veterans”.

May 7 – Military Spouse Appreciation Day – A day that recognizes the service and sacrifices of military spouses.

May 8 – V-E Day – This date commemorates the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces in 1945, ending World War II in Europe.

May 13 – Children of Fallen Patriots Day – A day to honor the children left behind by the brave men and women who gave their lives while defending our freedom.

May 15 – Armed Forces Day – This day pays tribute to men and women currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

May 31 – Memorial Day A solemn occasion to honor the men and women who died while serving in the military.

I’ve accented the difference between Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day. It’s an important distinction I think.

Armed Forces Day on May 15 honors active-duty service members. It’s the day to say thank you to those who willingly signed a blank check payable to “The United States of America,” for an amount of “up to and including their life.

Memorial Day on the last Monday of May honors those who gave their lives.

Celebrations on both days sometimes expand to include all public service servants like firemen and police officers, but the origins of the days were military-based. Let’s not forget.

This year May will be especially busy around our home. Thanks to the lessened pandemic restraints, we’ll once again have our traditional family gathering for Memorial Day along with three high school graduation celebrations.

How about your May, will you be busy?

25 05, 2020

How to celebrate Memorial Day During the Coronavirus Quarantine

By |2020-05-24T18:15:25-05:00May 25th, 2020|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

Memorial Day is the holiday set aside to remember the men and women who gave their lives while serving this country. To say thank you for their supreme sacrifice.

Because parades and gatherings are cancelled this Memorial Day weekend, retired Air Force bugler Jari Villanueva and CBS News “On the Road” correspondent Steve Hartman are asking buglers and trumpet players across the country to stand on their porches this Memorial Day at 3 p.m. local time and play “Taps.”

The rest of us can pause for a moment to remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice serving this country as well as all the victims of the coronavirus pandemic while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

If you’d like to dust off your trumpet or bugle and sound the call, click here for directions on how to participate.

If you’re not a bugler then perhaps you can play a version of Taps from YouTube like this one.

6 05, 2019

Busy, Busy Month of May

By |2019-05-02T21:40:39-05:00May 6th, 2019|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

May signals the beginning of summer. Senior proms and pomp and circumstance graduation celebrations fill the days. End of school parties occupy weekends even before that last bell rings.

The month is also full of military observances. Four to be exact.

  1. May 8 is V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

On this day in 1945 the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

A copy of The New York Times published May 8, 1945, bearing Kennedy’s scoop (AP/Rick Bowmer)

A side note about the day:

The news came to the U.S. via Edward Kennedy— not the late Democratic senator from Massachusetts but a man by the same name who was the chief correspondent in Europe for the AP in 1945 and had watched the signing in person.

Unfortunately, Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower had imposed a news blackout on the surrender, under orders from President Truman. Kennedy defied the order and sent the news out anyway.

His defiance backfired instead of the greatest scoop of his career, it was the scoop from. Allied headquarters stripped away his press credentials, denounced him personally for breaking the rules, and expelled him from liberated France to New York, where the AP promptly fired him. In 2012, he finally won a posthumous apology.

Newsbreak or unethical double cross? That is the question even among news reporters today. In our day of Twitter and Instagram, it’s hard to believe Kennedy was the only reporter in 1945 willing to break the news blackout.

  1. Armed Forces Day on May 19.

The day set aside to show appreciation to all active duty service members. Not to be confused with Veterans Day (November 11) or Memorial Day (May 27 this year). Both of those days commemorate the men and women who died while in the military service.

  1. May 22 is National Maritime Day.

The day set aside to observe the U.S.’s proud maritime heritage and honor the men and women who serve and have served as merchant mariners.

  1. May 27 is Memorial Day.

Originally called Decoration Day, many wear red poppies on Memorial Day which symbolize the red poppies that grew on a battlefield in Belgium during World War I and immortalized by Canadian Lt. Colonel John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields.

Moina Michaels, an American professor, wrote her own poem in 1918.She was also the first to wear a poppy, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money benefiting servicemen in need. Four years later, the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to sell poppies nationally.

A little side note about this day:

A Memorial Day picnic and poppies play a prominent role in the love story of Green Beret Alex Cabot and Department of Army Civilian Lily Reed, The Pendant’s Promise.

Then there are high school graduations, college graduations, birthday parties, and Mothers’ Day.

Last important day in May, though not nationally celebrated or recognized, is our wedding anniversary on May 30. Fifty-six years and counting—a rarity these days.

30 05, 2018

Remember when Memorial Day was always May 30?

By |2018-05-24T14:27:08-05:00May 30th, 2018|A Writer's Life, Wednesday Words of Wisdom|2 Comments

From 1868 to 1970 that date was the official day for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.

Some of you may remember. I sure do.

As financially strapped students who couldn’t afford an extended time away from work, we chose May 30 for our wedding date.

That particular year Memorial Day was on a Thursday, which meant we only had to miss one day of work since the wedding was in the evening after our workday.

I even wore my mother’s twenty-five year old wedding dress to save more money. As they say, “Those were the days.”

Nowadays Memorial Day observances are on the fourth Monday of May.

We, of course, still use May 30 to observe our wedding anniversary.

 

Every year when I look at our wedding pictures, this quote comes to mind. It’s what I use as the theme in all my books.

29 05, 2017

Remembering on Memorial Day

By |2017-05-07T15:46:22-05:00May 29th, 2017|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

Memorial Day is a sad day for so many. Far too many of us have been touched by the loss of a loved one or friend who “gave their tomorrow for our today.”

As you enjoy a hot dog or a hamburger with family and friends to usher in the unofficial start of summer, pause and remember why the day was originally established.

Celebrate Memorial Day but
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET.

27 05, 2013

Memorial Day is…

By |2013-05-27T05:46:57-05:00May 27th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|4 Comments

A holiday set aside to remember the men and women who gave their lives while serving this country.

Not to be confused with Veterans Day or Armed Forces Day, which celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans, living or dead.

Memorial Day is also the day my sweetie and I shared our wedding vows.

No, we were not married on the last Monday in May, but on May 30th — the original date designated as Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was first known.

We picked the holiday for our wedding because we wanted to make the date easy to remember.

Then on June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved Memorial Day, along with four other holidays, in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.

It’s okay though, we still remember our anniversary every year.

But I think people have forgotten the true origins of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day has become a long weekend more devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events than remembering those who have given their lives in military service.

I hope this video will jog our memory.

26 05, 2012

We Remember: Memorial Day 2012

By |2022-05-14T07:55:18-05:00May 26th, 2012|Judythe Morgan blog, Uncategorized|1 Comment

This Memorial Day weekend along with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and swimming, I want to honor and remember those who have gone before with this video of TAPS being played by a ninety-two-year-old vet.

There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the music of this wonderful call. Its strains are melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.” Quote from an article by Master Sergeant Jari A Villanueva, USAF

Words to Taps

Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
‘Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.

Note: there are no “official” words to Taps. These are the most popular. More about the history of Taps can be found at the official Military Funeral Honors History of Taps page and 24 Notes That Tap Deep Emotions

Our Memorial Day celebrations would not be complete without a big thank you and honor to all of those who serve every day and their families.

8 05, 2012

The Merry, Merry Month of May

By |2021-05-02T07:36:11-05:00May 8th, 2012|Uncategorized|5 Comments

While many of us consider this month to signal the beginning of summer, we also need to think about all the military-centered observances in May.

Today is one of four dates set aside for honoring the military in the U.S.

On Tuesday 8 May 1945 the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Today we celebrate that victory.

There’s a fascinating story of the firing of Edward Kennedy the AP correspondent who broke the story– perhaps the greatest scoop in history– and was then furiously denounced and expelled from liberated France. He won a posthumous apology from an ungrateful employer after 50 years last Friday. Click here to read.

Then on May 19th, we celebrate Armed Forces Day.

May 22th is National Maritime Day. A day set aside to observe the U.S.’s proud maritime heritage and honor the men and women who serve and have served as merchant mariners.

Lastly, May 28th is Memorial Day. Originally called Decoration Day, it’s a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Many wear red poppies on Memorial Day which symbolize the red poppies that grew on a battlefield in Belgium during World War I and immortalized by Canadian Lt. Colonel John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields.

Moina Michaels, an American professor, was inspired to write her own poem in 1918, which included the lines:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led.
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Michaels was the first to wear a poppy and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money benefiting servicemen in need. Four years later, the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies.

You’ll find a reference to the poem in my soon-to-be-released book The Pendant’s Promise. And, a Memorial Day picnic plays a prominent role in the love story of Alex and Lily.

May is indeed a month with opportunities to honor our military. On each of these days, my family will be pausing to remember and recognize those of have and are serving. And, no doubt, we’ll all be hearing TAPS played at one or more of these celebrations. It’s the song generally played on a bugle or trumpet that sounds at dusk, during flag ceremonies, at funerals, particularly by the U.S. military, and often at Boy Scout and Girl Scout/Guide meetings and camps.

I recently learned that  2012 is the 150th anniversary of TAPS. Read the complete story of TAPS from blogger Diane Kalas

Besides the end-of-school/graduation parties and the beginning of summer celebrations,  will you be celebrating any of these military holidays in the merry, merry month of May?

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