Lois Eisenberg | What Memorial Day Is About

Letters to the Editor
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Being that Memorial Day is Monday, May 29, I was remiss in not writing a letter to the editor regarding Memorial Day sooner.

I remember when Memorial Day was called Decoration Day. It was originally called Decoration Day three years after the Civil War. Before the first National Memorial Day in 1889, freed slaves first decorated soldiers’ graves even earlier in May 1885 in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1889 Congress made May 30 the national holiday, and on May 22, 1950, by proclamation President Harry Truman said that Memorial Day “has long been set aside for paying tribute to those who lost their lives in war.” In 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson designated the last Monday in May to be “Memorial Day.”

Americans celebrate Memorial Day in two different ways: One being somber by visiting graves of those “who served in various armed conflicts.” One being going on vacation, taking advantage of the three-day weekend, and celebrating by having barbecues, going to the beach, shopping, etc.

No matter how you celebrate Memorial Day it all boils down to honoring those who died serving our country, and may they rest in peace.

Lois Eisenberg 

Santa Clarita

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