Memorial Day in USA
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
The FIRST post is usually the hardest.
Well… I reckon that it’s kind of a good time to begin blogging now that I’m traveling in the U.S. because…
… when one is traveling, one usually comes across many encounters that are out of the ordinary.
Like… for instance, I learned that the Memorial Day in the U.S. falls on the very last Monday of May - this year on Monday 31 May 2010.
Frankly, I didn’t know about this SPECIAL day till I made my travel plans for a holiday and to attend a seminar to the U.S. just a week earlier…
And guess what?
Most hotel rooms in Hartford, Connecticut was fully booked for that weekend and we had to settle for anything is decent (both in quality and in price).
How did the Memorial Day in the USA come about?
——– EXCERPT FROM WIKIPEDIA ——–
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.
In the United States, Memorial Day marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day marks its end.
Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on Memorial Day.
——– END OF EXCERPT ——–
I dedicate my FIRST post of this blog to the memory of those who perished in the wars as well as their families.
