Only 20% of U.S. adults say that they are very familiar with Memorial Day's purpose

Did you know that only 20% of U.S. adults say that they are very familiar with Memorial Day's purpose? So, before we go any further, and for you other 80% percent reading here, you should know that Memorial Day is to honor those who died fighting the nation's wars, even though you may be most familiar with Memorial Day as signaling the “unofficial” beginning of the summer vacation season each year, not to mention crazy low sale prices on everything from mattresses to mini-vans. 

Yet, while Americans do enjoy the three-day weekend that Memorial Day brings, most also understand the historical significance of liberty, and war. We understand our freedom is not free, but a gift from our soldiers. We understand that, since our nation’s founding, over 2.8 million soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in combat, or as Lincoln described it, “the last full measure of devotion.” These are the men and women, who have defended our nation’s liberty, and for whom the Memorial Day observance seeks to honor. 

The watering-down of Memorial Day may have began when Congress enacted the National Holiday Act of 1971, making it into a three-day weekend. This may have had the unintended consequence of making it easier for folks to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. In fact, the VFW believes that this “contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

So, while our children may know only of backyard barbecues, swimming pools, family get-togethers, and mom or dad having a day off from work on Memorial Day, it’s only because of the men and women who jeopardized their own well being to protect the countless millions of us who will likely never know them by name, nor know the last words of those who died in battle, or the convictions within their own heart that allowed them to leave the safety and security of their home and family, so that so many of us could remain free within ours.

These were the men and women, for example, that brokered a peace that ended the Holocaust, won the cold war, and otherwise preserved the American dream for generations to come – and for many of them, on a mere $25 dollar a month salary.

Our children know only freedom because someone else paid the cost of admission for them (and for us). We simply cannot forget the men and women, who defend this nation because, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “Any nation that does not honor its heroes, will not endure long.”