Remember our men & women who served this Memorial Day

[Panich52]

As we all look forward to the Memorial Day weekend, we must take time to acknowledge the significance of women and men's military service to our country. Since the Revolutionary War, women have served in the armed forces in capacities ranging from cooks to nurses and pilots to generals. In 1948, Congress finally passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, granting women permanent status in the military. But we know that women have risked their lives for our country, both at home and abroad, since the birth of our nation.

Did you know that women https://www.nwhm.org/blog/women-and-memorial-day/ were almost entirely responsible for the recognition of Memorial Day? Shortly after the Civil War, Ellen Call Long organized a women's memorial society to help reconcile the North and South. These types of societies emerged to memorialize the dead and care for the war's disabled, as well as the widows and orphans left behind. Whether you visit the women's memorial at Arlington National Cemetery or attend a parade in your community, Memorial Day is a time to pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that "government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth." My Navy veteran brother and I just made a pilgrimage to Gettysburg, where President Abraham Lincoln spoke those immortal words to dedicate its military cemetery. Gives you goosebumps, doesn't it?

This Memorial Day, AAUW honors all of the women and men who so dedicatedly served this country and most especially those who sacrificed their lives. We also thank the military families who have made their own sacrifices to support our service members, and waited patiently for them to come home safely. .

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. No offense intended. But I'm confused: there are two separate Nat'l Holidays. No?

1. Veteran's Day ( ironically, originally "Armistice Day&quot which honors everyone described in OP. First Monday in Nov. (Or is it the second Tuesday. No matter.) as I recall.

2. Memorial Day: Last Monday in May. For armed forces personnel , men and women, who were KILLED in battle. In other words , who ARE NO LONGER ALIVE. Hence the name: Memorial Day. ( "Memory", "remember", "memorial", *MEMORIAL Day* etc.)

Am I right? Or is my memory ( pun intended) failing? Or maybe I'm just all wet.

In any event: Happy Holiday.... everyone. Whatever it's for.

[Duckhunter935]

5. You are correct nt

[snpsmom]

2. "all of the women and men who so dedicatedly served this country"

Wrong. Memorial Day is exclusively meant to honor those who died serving. Veterans Day (in November) is meant to honor living veterans. Bugs me every stinking year. It's just another instance of the lip service paid to "supporting the troops" when people can't even get this simple stuff right.

[earthside]

4. Memorial Day is not Veterans Day!

This is a commemoration of sacrifice and death -- and reconciliation.
It is as much an anti-war observation as a honoring of those who paid the ultimate price for a great cause.

It is not meant to be yet another praise-day for every person whoever put on a military uniform.

Women Created Memorial Day!
https://www.nwhm.org/blog/women-and-memorial-day/

"The object of this meeting is to initiate a Memorial Association…that shall perpetuate in an honorable manner the memory of the gallant dead…

Our society has forgotten that women cleaned up the mess. They took the gruesome reality of approximately a half-million dead men, and by promoting cemeteries, led the way in turning blood and gore into something that encouraged serenity and reflection."