Memento mori

Memorial Day started as a day of remembrance with strong political overtones. After the Civil War, local communities set aside a day to remember those who had fallen in the Civil War. There was no national consensus about the date for this remembrance, nor was there even an agreement over whom to remember. Northern communities naturally favored the memories of Union troops; Southern communities preferred to mourn the Confederate dead. Since the focus of the event varied, so did the name, from the neutral "Decoration Day" to the explicitly secessionist "Confederate Memorial Day."

With memories of the war still raw, the nation nevertheless survived, in spite of these divided views over which casualties deserved to be honored. By the 20th century, enough time had passed that Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line could agree on having a single day to remember all the hallowed dead from all of America's wars.

A neutral holiday eventually turned into a neutered holiday. Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and the Fourth of July have stopped being events about the nation's history. These are now largely private events, held in the backyards of American homes--with the exception of Fourth of July fireworks displays, which lack any historical or civic content. The public reminders of our collective history, even one as controversial as the Civil War, and our contemporary duties, as seen in the mirror of our war dead, are largely missing.

Nevertheless, we can take at least a moment today to remember the casualties of our wars. We can also use the opportunity to make our feelings known about our current and future wars. When is it worth sending men and women to die, to protect the rest of us? The United States is strong enough, as a democratic union, to endure both our agreements about whom we memorialize, and our disagreements over how many new casualties we mourn next year. In fact, American democracy needs both these agreements and disagreements, in equal measure. If we survived the Civil War, we'll survive our current conflicts.

Comments

[Mojo]

Good post.
I feel that memorial day should be about how we can be worthy of the sacrifice of those who have fallen in the past and will fall in the future on our behalf. Instead, it is now just a second Veteran's Day and both are more about nationalism than anything else (well, besides the primary meaning of three-day weekend).

[Simon]

Its interesting that although similar in genesis the value and meaning for ANZAC Day to Aussies and Kiwi's is so very different from other countries memorial days.