OPINION
Memorial Day

This upcoming Monday is Memorial Day! For most it the beginning of summer, but for others, it is a day which commemorates our fallen soldiers. Most people no longer fly the flag etiquette for the day, and many do not hold Memorial Day parades like in the past.

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. It was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. The first observed Decoration Day was held on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers (http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html).

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo was chosen because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

The following information shows just how many we lost throughout the centuries (http://www.americanfamily traditions.com/ memorial_day.htm).
• Revolutionary War--4,435
• War of 1812--2,260
• Mexican War--1,733
• Civil War (Both Sides)--191,963
• Spanish American War--385
• World War I--53,402
• World War II--291,557
• Korean Conflict--33,741
• Vietnam Conflict--47,424
• Persian Gulf War--147
• Iraq Conflict--3,406

We need to remember those who paid the price for our freedoms. We need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten.

Whenever I See A Soldier Boy...
© 1942 by Sam Miller
Whenever I see a soldier boy
No matter where it be
I give him salutation
for he means so much to me

He’s not the boy we used to know
In store, at desk or plow
He’s a defender of our faith
He’s in the service now

He keeps Old Glory flying
on land and air and sea
He lives to make our homes secure
He dies to keep us free.

Bonnie Nelson is a freelance writer living in Fountain, CO. If you have comments or questions, email her at waltbon@comcast.net.

CONTACT THE WRITER • WALTBON@COMCAST.nET

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