Words for Memorial Day
Five articles on the meaning of Memorial Day
Sending this week’s piece early as I’ll be offline on Monday. Rather than a new essay, I include here a series of articles and pieces about Memorial Day, all written in the last few years. I’ll resume the normal schedule on June 2.
May you have a meaningful and fulfilling Memorial Day weekend.
Recent Memorial Day Writing
Dan Vallone - Why We Visit Graves on Memorial Day
This piece first appeared online in Christianity Today yesterday, May 23, 2025. In it I discuss the importance of physically visiting gravesites on Memorial Day. I approach this from a military perspective and from a Christian one. Both the military and the church have ritualistic approaches to death, which enable us to feel both intense grief and the utmost reverence.
Link here: Why We Visit Graves on Memorial Day
Kayla Williams - Who Should We Honor on Memorial Day?
Kayla is an Army veteran and author of Love My Rifle More than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army and Plenty of Time When We Get Home: Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War. In 2023 she wrote a guest op-ed for the New York Times discussing those who have died from war, but who are less frequently brought up in the context of memorialization: Army nurses in WWI where their service status was not yet formally decided; service members who die from ailments such as cancer where the root cause was service-related; and those who die by suicide, among others. Her essay challenges us to consider how we might expand our conception of who is honored on Memorial Day, to more fully capture the day’s meaning.
Link here: Who Should We Honor on Memorial Day?
The National Maul - Memorial Day and U.S. Military Rugby
This is a beautiful piece from Martin Pengelly about rugby, the Army (and other parts of the military), war, and Memorial Day. It includes notes stories from his book Brotherhood, about the West Point rugby team that will make you laugh and cause you to reflect on the somber nature of sacrifice and the terrible realities of war.
Scott Cooper- The Risks of Memorial Day Not Being Personal
Scott is a retired Marine Corps officer and someone I had the privilege of working with on a series of public opinion projects focused on Americans’ attitudes towards veterans and the military. In this piece, published yesterday (May 23, 2025) in War on the Rocks, Scott warns of the risks America faces the more Memorial Day becomes impersonal; the dangers of having a nation where most feel little direct connection to the military.
Link here: The Risks of Memorial Day Not Being PersonalArmy 250 Memorial Day post in 2024
Army 250 Memorial Day Article from 2024
Last year I wrote about Army Major John Alexander (“Alex”) Hottell III, who gave his life to the nation in 1970 while serving in the Vietnam War. He is now buried at the West Point Cemetery. Before he died, Alex composed a beautiful and moving eulogy for his own death.
Memorial Day
On May 5, 1868, John. A Logan, who had served as a Major General in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, issued General Orders No. 11 for the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the nation’s largest association of Army veterans. General Orders No. 11 directed GAR members to observe May 30 for the purposes of decorating the graves of the Civil War dead. The…
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Glad I waited until this morning to read all of those fantastic posts. Thank you Dan. Hope you have a great one
Looking forward to reading each one on Memorial Day. All look like worthwhile reads from your summaries.