Memorial Day

federal holiday in the United States of America for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces

Memorial Day (previously known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering and honoring the military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Memorial Day, Boston by Henry Sandham

Quotes

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  • The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
    But not of war it sings to-day.
    The road is rhythmic with the feet
    ⁠Of men-at-arms who come to pray.

    The roses blossom white and red
    ⁠On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
    Flags wave above the honored dead
    ⁠And martial music cleaves the sky.

    Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
    ⁠They kept the faith and fought the fight.
    Through flying lead and crimson steel
    ⁠They plunged for Freedom and the Righteousness.

    May we, their grateful children, learn
    ⁠Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
    Who went through fire and death to earn
    ⁠At last the accolade of God.

    In shining rank on rank arrayed
    They march, the legions of the Lord;
    He is their Captain unafraid,
    The Prince of Peace . . . Who brought a sword.

    • Joyce Kilmer, Memorial Day; this poem was later published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920)
  • Out of the blood of a conflict fraternal,
    ⁠Out of the dust and the dimness of death,
    Burst into blossoms of glory eternal
    ⁠Flowers that sweeten the world with their breath.
    Flowers of charity, peace, and devotion
    ⁠Bloom in the hearts that are empty of strife;
    Love that is boundless and broad as the ocean
    ⁠Leaps into beauty and fulness of life.
    So, with the singing of pæans and chorals,
    ⁠And with the flag flashing high in the sun,
    Place on the graves of our heroes the laurels
    ⁠Which their unfaltering valor has won!
  • Memorial Day has the tendency to conjure up old arguments about the Civil War. That’s understandable; it was created to mourn the dead of a war in which the Union was nearly destroyed, when half the country rose up in rebellion in defense of slavery.
    • Adam Serwer, The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America (2021)
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