As you are aware from past articles, every year some of your SRCAR Directors & Officers travel to Washington D.C. in May for our annual National Association of Realtors Legislative Conferences. We meet with other N.A.R. Directors, discuss federal legislative issues and meet with our Senators and Representatives. During any downtime, we also see parts of the city and visit our nations historic treasures including the Lincoln Memorial, WWII Monument, Viet Nam Veterans Memorial, the Capitol and, of course, Arlington National Cemetery.

Our trip usually falls between two of D.C.’s premier and most beautiful events – Cherry Blossom Festival and Memorial Day at Arlington, but we often get to witness the prep work done at the cemetery and it’s a sight you’ll never forget.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day set aside to remember and honor those who have died in our nation’s service. Beginning shortly after the end of the Civil War, many people started the tradition of decorating graves of fallen soldiers with flowers – hence Decoration Day was born. Many areas lay claim to originating the custom but it is generally acknowledged that a druggist in Waterloo N.Y. by the name of Henry Welles got the ball rolling on May 5, 1866. Two years later the day was officially proclaimed by General John Logan in his General Order #11 and the date set to May 30.

The South did not observe Decoration Day, preferring to honor their war dead on different days, until after WWI when the name was changed to Memorial Day and expanded to honor soldiers who had died in other wars as well. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday in May.

When I was growing up, Memorial Day was always commemorated with a parade down Main Street culminating at Lone Tree Cemetery at the end of town. The band marched along with veterans from prior wars and active service personnel from the Korean War. At the cemetery two buglers played the haunting and forlorn ‘Taps’, which echoed off the mountains surrounding our community, a 21 gun salute was volleyed, tears were shed and memorials were read of veterans who had passed during the prior year. It was a moving celebration customarily followed by a more raucous celebration at the Veterans Hall which ended much later in the day with several casualties of a different kind – but always a tribute to those who had fought to preserve our freedom.

Over the years those traditional observances of Memorial Day have diminished. Today many Americans have forgotten the meaning and tradition of this day or find it ‘un-cool’ to recognize soldiers for their wartime efforts. But not in Washington D.C.. On the Thursday before Memorial Day over 1,200 soldiers from the 3^rd U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington. They then patrol the cemetery 24 hours a day through the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing and does not touch the ground, a basic precept of flag etiquette. Wreaths are also placed at the Tombs of the Unknown, jets fly over, rifle salutes are fired and the day is celebrated by the many families whose loved ones rest under the gently rolling hills overlooking the Potomac.

In 2000 the ‘National Day of Remembrance’ resolution was passed to help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day. The resolution asks that all Americans volunteer  and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect at 3 p.m., pausing whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or ‘Taps’.

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. Set aside this one day out of the year for the nation to come together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given all in the service of our country. Please join us this year on May 30, as we take a moment to remember those who have fought to preserve our many freedoms.  God Bless.