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Rest in peace my brothers and sisters.

In my days as a youngster during and after WWII, this holiday was always the last day of May on whichever day of the week it fell, and on that day all other normal activities were suspended in every village across the nation to memorialize all that had passed on, not merely those fallen in combat.

The day was called "Decoration Day." a day when the whole village assembled, held a parade to the cemetery, and followed the marchers there, where a prominent member of the community gave a message, speaking in memoriam of the aspect of the passing on and meaning of the lives of those being remembered, the ones whose bodies' permanent residence was now the place of their burial.

After this message, the crowd broke silence and went about decorating all the grave sites with flowers and wreaths and other such items as would honor those buried there.

Most prominent was the replacing and renewal of the worn-out flags in their permanent holders situated at the head of the grave, or at the entrance of every tomb, for any individual whose history included serving in the military, going way back in some cases to the Revolutionary War days, if such a veteran lay there.

But the idea was to honor in their death of everyone whose living presence had blessed and invigorated the community, whose participation ion it had given reason and purpose to its existence and ongoing history.

I am sorry that today's culture has placed its selfish interests of business, shopping, and partying above the purpose of holding a true memorial remembrance of the persons and works of each one's Moms and Dads and other relatives and friends, that their contributions to one's own present life may not be forgotten.

We should not play down the significance, and merely relegate the occasion as an excuse to extend the off-work time for self-centered preoccupations of some close-by weekend, rather than selecting and dedicating the moment, the particular invariant day of the year, when the whole nation brings its activity to a halt with a single unalloyed purpose, business economics taking second place, that pursuit of a sincere dedicated day of remembrance of all those who have passed be foremost, including especially thinking of those fallen heroes who died before their time on behalf of their grateful inheritants.

Today's typical "Memorial Day" occasion is just a second-hand ghost of what it used to be, back in the day, a that one can only yearn for now, never again realize.

Another great commander who lived by;

Leaders must lead. Be the first boots on the ground and the last boots off. “When we go into battle, I will be the first one to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will come home together. So help me God.” —Lt. Co. Hal Moore, August 1965, Fort Benning, Ga.