Scout leader Tom Ross, carries the U.S. flag after placing flags on graves Saturday, May 24, 2003, at Los Angeles National Cemetery in advance of Memorial Day observance on Monday.
Posted on 05/25/2003 5:38:06 AM PDT by knighthawk
Attacks, conflicts abroad put focus on real meaning of Memorial Day
It wasn't always barbecues and a three-day weekend.
As Americans prepare to observe Memorial Day three weeks after after President Bush declared an end to the war in Iraq, the annual tribute to America's fallen soldiers is fighting to regain its patriotic luster.
The threat of terrorism since 9/11 and the war to oust Saddam Hussein have helped restore the traditional meaning of the holiday, the earliest roots of which date to 1865 in upstate New York.
"For a long time, there seemed to be no participation. Now, in the last few years, people are going back," said Dorothy Oxendine, president of American Gold Star Mothers, whose only son, Willie, died on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam on Memorial Day in 1968.
"I just hope it doesn't wear off," said Oxendine, of Farmingdale, Long Island.
When the federal government switched Memorial Day in 1971 from May 30 to the last Monday in May to create a long weekend, it was the most significant change in the history of the holiday since the aftermath of World War I. That is when the commemoration of Civil War dead was broadened to include all wars, said Michael Aikey, director of the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs.
Lou LeFevre, 74, of Selkirk, an Army private when he fought in the Korean War, said that for some people, Memorial Day is just another day off since it was moved to Monday. But he sees the pendulum swinging back.
The revival of tradition is reflected in a return to observing the holiday on May 30. This year, for the first time, the Gerald H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery will celebrate Memorial Day on May 30, which is Friday.
"Hopefully, the emphasis will be on respect and the true meaning of the day instead of a three-day weekend," cemetery director James Barlow said.
In the Capital Region, one community that never moved its tribute is Corinth. The Saratoga County town continues to hold its events on May 30, said Warren Saunders, 78, adjutant for the Horace D. Washburn American Legion Post 533.
"We stick with the traditional day," said Sanders, who fought with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Africa and Europe during World War II.
The birthplace of Memorial Day -- Waterloo, Seneca County -- also never changed its calendar date. The three-day weekend "took away the sovereignty and meaning of Memorial Day," said Jane Shaffer, a local organizer for Waterloo's annual activities.
Most of the town's 5,500 residents march to the local cemetery, parade down Main Street and take part in religious services. This year, Shaffer said, the town has been deluged by national news media looking for the traditional Memorial Day story.
Meanwhile, old ways have been reinforced by the incorporation of recent events. The displays of national pride one year ago at the first Memorial Day since Sept. 11, 2001, honored not only fallen soldiers, but the final sacrifices of ordinary people, police officers, firefighters and rescue crews.
Despite renewed reverence for the solemn side of the holiday, the long weekend remains a launchpad for summer. In part, that's because no war since Vietnam has produced significant numbers of American dead, said Army veteran John Edwards, 76, president of the New York State Military Heritage Institute of Saratoga Springs.
In World War II, 442 service personnel from Albany were killed. None died in the battles in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"The casualties are much smaller," said Edwards of Niskayuna, who survived five months in a German POW camp and later served in Korea and Vietnam.
A University at Albany professor of culture and political sociology sees another reason Americans have moved away from honoring the dead on the three days in May.
"This is as much time off as many people get and they want to use this to do something nice," said Professor Richard Lachmann. "Going to a cemetery or parade isn't going to strike a very sympathetic chord."
As the World War II generation fades away, some of its members are nostalgic for the crowds of yesteryear.
"You don't really get a good turnout. The real big mobs, you don't see them anymore," said Richard Marowitz, 77, of Albany, who in April 1945 helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp a day before he entered Hitler's empty apartment with his Army unit. There, he found the Nazi dictator's top hat, which he brought back home. A few years ago, he loaned the artifact to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Lately, Marowitz has been encouraged by what he sees at local schools, where he often speaks about his wartime experiences. He said young people's eyes have been opened by the media coverage of the war in Iraq.
One of those students is Austin Klob of Colonie. The 12-year-old sixth-grader and other youngsters from Loudonville Community Church on Saturday placed flags on the plots of veterans at Evergreen Cemetery in Colonie.
"Memorial Day means to me honoring the people who have served our country. It just feels like it's the right thing to do -- to honor those that have preserved our freedom," he said.
No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
In the Mansions of the Lord
Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord
Scout leader Tom Ross, carries the U.S. flag after placing flags on graves Saturday, May 24, 2003, at Los Angeles National Cemetery in advance of Memorial Day observance on Monday.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.