MEMORIAL Day weekend is a time America honors men and women who gave their lives in U.S. military service. It also is a time America cherishes the company of family and friends, and marks the unofficial start of summer with cookouts, pool parties and road trips.
While it's common to lament that the second part sometimes seems to overshadow the first, we give people enough credit to believe they can do both - searing a tri-tip without forgetting their gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
There's something essentially American about observing a patriotic holiday in your own way.
In fact, private thoughts can be as powerful as Main Street parades on an occasion such as Memorial Day.
You might think of someone close to you who died in war, and imagine what a person with his or her courage would have made of a longer life. Or, if you haven't lost anybody to war, you can give thanks for how lucky you and your family have been.
You might think of how your own life is different because of the efforts of those who died in war.
You might pay more attention than you normally do to news of the United States' current conflicts in the Middle East, because informed citizens help our leaders to make the correct choices about when, where and why to put young lives in
harm's way.What is now called Memorial Day has a long history. It started in 1865 to honor the Civil War dead, was expanded to include all U.S. war dead following World War I, and became a Monday federal holiday 40 years ago.
Traditionalists would like to see Memorial Day observed on its original date of May 30 every year. They say the fact it is the tail end of a three-day weekend has obscured its deeper significance.
This year's Memorial Day might feel a bit different. It's the 10th Memorial Day since 9/11, which literally brought the dangers of international conflict home, and it's the first since the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden, which highlighted the life-and-death bravery of the military.
Again, we're confident that even if Americans look like they're goofing off on Monday, they are taking time to at least privately salute the nation's lost heroes.
Observe Memorial Day in your own way, but observe it.
A Los Angeles Daily News editorial. To read more editorials from the Daily News, go to www.dailynews.com/opinions.
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18158397?source=rss
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