Memorial Day originally began as a holiday to show respect for the honored dead of the American Civil War. But down the years the day was expanded to include the honored dead among our families, friends and communities. From time to time, however, the day returns to its true military meaning.
This year is one of those times.
Combat in this past year has claimed the lives of dozens of American soldiers. This Memorial Day belongs, first, to them. At Arlington National Cemetery, the small American flags placed on each grave will have a special resonance this year, as will the traditional remarks at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
With May being Military Appreciation Month, in fact, the tributes and salutes have already been in full force for weeks.
In San Diego, the Padres baseball team donned military "cammies" for a game. Several military installations have been sponsoring open houses. Parades and sea shows are in the offing. Today, a special concert is slated for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
Locally, dozens of tributes are scheduled, ranging from bagpipe music to religious observances.
Many of the commemorations, in fact, will have the trappings of days gone by, when Memorial Day was still called Decoration Day and the flower of choice for the graves was the gladiola, or "flag."
On the first Decoration Day, Gen. James Garfield gave a speech to 5,000 assembled souls at Arlington.
Monday will feature a similar scene at Arlington.
In 1966 Pres. Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. In 1971, Congress made the last Monday in May an official holiday.
And though much remains the same today, much has also changed.
The poppy, the red flower that flourished in the open fields of Flanders during World War I, has gone from being a Memorial Day symbol of American bravery to calling to mind opium and international drug cartels.
For many, what was conceived as a day of reverence has now become a day of recreation.
In the past, Americans have celebrated their freedom from fear on Memorial Day. This year they will be moving about cautiously, under heightened alert. Security measures will be in effect that haven't been seen in 60 years. And as we honor those who have fallen in foreign wars, there's a chance others will be falling in foreign wars.
Such things will tinge this year's commemorations with nostalgia and even melancholy. Yet, at the same time, Memorial Day will be an opportunity to show, once again, the steely resolve that has made America America.
Surely, at the special tribute being mounted at Gettysburg, the words of Abraham Lincoln will be read again.
And just as surely, as the words "that from these honored dead we take increased devotion" are read, they will sink deep into the hearts of those who hear them, as they have done each time Memorial Day has found the nation at war.