Memorial Day is the last Monday in May (it used to be May 30th, a
fixed date). It was started as Decoration Day, shortly after the
Civil War ended in 1865, when towns would place decorations on the
graves of their Civil War soldiers who didn't make it back alive.
It has come to be a day for honoring all military personnel who have
given their lives in service to the United States of America.
--
David H. Bailey
Fine as far as it goes, but it should also be mentioned that Memorial
Day is widely observed as the beginning of summer here. People flock to
the beaches on this weekend almost regardless of the weather; my wife
and I went to Cape May NJ last weekend for our 30th anniversary, and
saw people walking around in shorts, T-shirts, swimwear despite an
ocean temperature of 12� C and a daily high of 20.
For that very large percentage of the population with no military
casualties in their family tree, the official observance is almost
irrelevant.
Ives' _Decoration Day_ vividly depicts the holiday as celebrated in New
England a century ago, and even there you can detect some of this
ambivalence, as a truly solemn observance is immediately followed by a
boisterous parade.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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