Harry's Army Surplus Blog

Posts Tagged ‘parades’

Although we are inundated by barbecues, annual sales, parades, and festivities in the warm weather, the true meaning of Memorial Day  is to to commemorate the men and women in the Armed Forces who have died serving our country. Memorial Day was once referred to as “Decoration Day”, a name that came from a tradition of decorating the soldier’s graves.

One of the ways that we continue to honor fallen veterans on Memorial Day each year is the tradition of placing flags on the graves of fallen soldiers at Arlington Cemetery. One of the infantries of the United States Army patrol and make sure that all of the flags remain standing over the weekend. Sadly, this is one of the few last remaining traditions of decorating soldier’s graves as Memorial Day has become largely commercialized once the National Holiday Act of 1971 turned Memorial Day into a three day weekend.

We understand how easy it is to be distracted by your day off and all the fun you will have this long weekend celebrating Memorial Day, but please take a moment to think about the men and women that died to protect our freedom. This is the same freedom that allows you to wake up and celebrate Memorial Day this year however you want and we owe it all to those who served and those who are still serving. Don’t forget to thank a soldier today!