Memorial Day, 2025

“So long as they speak your name, you shall never die.”   

We will again observe Memorial Day on the 26th of May, a day to commemorate and honor the men and women of the U.S. military who died while serving their country. Ceremonies will be held in communities with active military groups, speeches will be given, a three-shot rifle volley signifying duty, honor, and sacrifice will resound with a sharp crack of salute, and the notes of a somber bugler playing “Taps” will echo among their graves. 

When did the observance begin? The origins of Memorial Day are open to debate, but we know parts of the country began recognizing the day back in 1868. It wasn’t officially adopted as a federal holiday until 1971. As a young boy it was common for me to hear the day called Decoration Day. Once in awhile it is still referred to that way.

Depending on the source, numbers of U.S. service members killed while in service varies. Approximations of those numbers include 58,000 in Vietnam, 36,000 in Korea, 420,000 in WWII, and 53,000 in WWI. In addition other smaller wars have claimed their victims, too. If we consider the Civil War, 620,000 died in that conflict.

I have not served in the military and cannot pretend to know anything about battlefield conditions. For the most part veterans do not speak comfortably about it. The sights, sounds, and smells of war still haunt the memories they’d just as soon forget. I have to leave it to the histories, news reports, diaries, memoirs, and on-site videos to inform me. Some movies might give us glimpses of the horrors.

The book written for Sheldon’s 125th anniversary celebration contains lengthy diary writings. The earliest war covered features the “Civil War Diary of Frank Mougey.” His account tells of their bad living conditions plus punishing discipline handed to them by a “mean officer.” In one place he makes brief mention of “Skirmishing pretty hard. Our loss was about 250 kild and 60 wounded.”

“Cliff Black’s War Memories” holds little back in describing his experience. He said, “Here was the end of rail travel; bridges were blown up, very little remains of what was once a highway, rails and roadbed blown up, shell holes galore, barbed wire entanglements, blown up tanks, destroyed planes, could this be real.” After a battle, Black observed, “Death and destruction had tramped through ruthlessly, leaving in their wake the muddy clay trenches, strewn with tangled barbed wire, mangled bodies of our buddies and those of the enemy…”

Records of my grandfather’s service in WWI gave us his regiment and division. From there it was easy to search for and find where he served. It was at the bloody battle of Meuse-Argonne in France. An excellent book telling of that battle, To Conquer Hell by Edward Lengel, outlined his participation very well. Some skimpy notes he penciled in his small Bible mentioned that on one drive toward enemy lines, his unit succeeded in reaching their goal but had to retreat. The regiments on either side of his had not kept pace thereby exposing their flanks. That day he scrawled, “We lost half our men.” Lengel’s book attests to Grandpa’s account.

Ernie Pyle’s reporting as a WWII war correspondent from the front lines served to inform the country back home of hard truths. He stayed with the soldiers, ate the same food, wore the same clothes, slept in the same foxholes, and took a bullet in his head while peering over the edge of one. By the time of his death, Ernie's trusted columns appeared in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers.

One of Pyle’s frequently mentioned columns described the death of a respected officer in Italy he titled “The Death of Captain Waskow.” After a battle on a mountain, he told of how, “Dead men had been coming down from the mountain all evening, lashed onto the backs of mules.” After a time someone recognized the captain and reverently honored him as he lay there.

David Halberstam wrote of his times embedded with men and women on the front lines. What he saw and experienced in Vietnam caused him to question the official reports from Washington that told the public how great things were going for the U. S. military. He wrote that leaders in Washington  implemented policies that defied common sense and went against the advice of seasoned Department of State employees who knew and understood Vietnam.

All of the past wars and sufferings brings us to Memorial Day commemorations. This day does not always receive the degree of attention it deserves but one option exists, we can offer a moment of silence at 3 p.m. for the National Moment of Remembrance. Its intent is to remember and honor those who have died in service to the United States. Established by President William Clinton in 2000, it is an act of national unity to remember the sacrifices of fallen service members.