As you're aware, Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching. It's a day that you should spend some time with family and friends, get out the grill, relax and enjoy the long weekend. So, give it a little thought and plan something fun. It is also a time to Remember and Reflect on those who gave their lives to this Country so that we may be free.  Here are some things to think about:

Memorial Day and Labor Day are bookend holidays, marking the beginning and end of the summer holidays in the United States. These three-day weekends traditionally are times for celebration and family outings. Celebrated in most states on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is a time to remember the U.S. men and woman who lost their lives serving their country. Originally known as Decoration Day, it was established in 1868 to commemorate the dead from the Civil War. Over the years it came to serve as a day to remember all U.S. men and women killed or missing in action in all wars.

Source: http://virtual-markets.net/vme/memorial/

A Memorial Day Message --
Lest we forget the meaning of this holiday weekend while our backyards are filled with family and the scent of food cooking on the grill, Memorial Day honors the American men and women who have died in military service to their country. These service members’ commitment and dedication to the United States of America resulted in the ultimate sacrifice, paying a dear price for our continued liberty and freedom. They will not be forgotten!
 
It was only in the late 1960s that Congress officially named the last Monday in May “Memorial Day.” But Americans have honored their country’s fallen service members since the very birth of this great nation, from remembrances of those who fought for our independence in the 18th century to the brave fighters in the two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam, and those who have died in our present military engagements and all operations in between. On Memorial Day, please join fellow Americans in observing the National Moment of Remembrance sponsored by the White House. At 3 p.m. local time on Monday, simply pause for a minute to remember and honor the fallen.
 
Only after we have given thought to why we have this holiday weekend can we truly understand and enjoy it.

Click Here for rest of Message from: S. Ward Casscells, M.D. Assistant Secretary 

source: http://www.health.mil/Messages/Message.aspx?id=51

Participate in Memorial Day Moment of Silence
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2009 –

“On May 5, 1868, General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, asked that America remember those lost in the Civil War by ‘gather[ing] around their sacred remains’ to ‘garland the passionless mounds … with choicest flowers’ and ‘raise above them the dear old flag they saved.’

“Since then, we have set aside one day each year to honor all those who have died in service to our country. Across the United States, military support groups, veterans associations, and patriots mount public tribute to those who served and sacrificed. By honoring our men and women in uniform with events like this, groups such as the American Veterans Center keep alive the memory of those who paid the ultimate price.

“Some wear a red poppy, in the spirit of the poet Moina Michael, who wrote that that flower “grows on fields where valor led.” Others continue to adorn graves with flowers and candles. And each year, the soldiers of “The Old Guard” place small American flags at each Arlington National Cemetery gravestone and patrol around the clock during Memorial Day weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.

“At 3 p.m., your local time, on Monday, May 25, 2009, I would encourage you to join millions of your fellow Americans in a moment of silence to remember our fallen heroes.

“It is important to think of the fallen on this day, but we should also keep in mind all of our servicemen and women throughout the year. They and their families continue to sacrifice for our country and deserve our recognition and support. We should heed the advice of General Logan, who wrote: ‘Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.’”

Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense

Source: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54438

Special from Master Chief Petty Officer US Navy Joe R. Campa Jr.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- On May 28, 2007 we -- as a nation -- will pause to remember a group of Americans to whom we owe every freedom we enjoy.

The strength of our nation has been built on the sacrifices made by the men and women who lost their lives protecting it. This weekend you’ll have the opportunity to remember those who gave their lives in the name of freedom. How you choose to spend this time is a personal choice only you can make.

It is my hope that at some point over the next few days you’ll take a moment to consider those sacrifices and what they’ve meant to this country.

Remember our loved ones in the jungles of Vietnam, who fought a war thousands of miles away while their fellow Americans debated it at home. They fought an enemy emboldened by our country’s discord, and they fought for one another.Remember a generation of Americans that is unfortunately dwindling by the day. Our World War II veterans rode a groundswell of anger after Pearl Harbor. They flooded the recruiting offices and defended this nation with a will and resolve that we still owe them for to this day.

Thousands of them never came home from the Far East, France or Great Britain. Many were lost while serving on or beneath the sea. Those who lived led this country for 60 years after the war, but their numbers are diminishing. Remember them this weekend.

Think back to the day immediately following 9/11 and the thousands of young Americans who, like their grandparents, joined the military to defend this nation against an enemy who attacked us because we are a country that embraces freedom. We’ve lost many of them too, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Remember them as you do our veterans of Korea, World War I, II and Vietnam.

This weekend is a time we’ve traditionally set aside to honor the sacrifices of those who died in service of our nation. Memorializing them goes to the core of who we are as Americans and as Sailors. Our thoughts should be with them every day, and I hope yours are. And, if not every day, then certainly this Monday.

Stay safe this weekend. Enjoy your families, and never forget the men and women who took an oath to defend this nation, then made the ultimate sacrifice upholding freedom and democracy.

For more news from Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, visit www.news.navy.mil/local/mcpon/.

Chairman of Joint Chiefs - Memorial Day message

Posted 5/23/2008
by Adm. Michael G. Mullen
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

5/23/2008 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- "Let no ravages of time testify to the present or the coming generations that we, as a people, have forgotten the cost of a free and undivided republic."

With that solemn promise, Army General John Logan signed the order in 1868 that established Memorial Day. We have honored his promise faithfully ever since, and this year -- with our nation still at war and a new generation of heroes fighting and dying for freedom -- we will do it again.

The "cost" of which General Logan wrote is, of course, the blood spilt of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It is the hardest currency of all, once spent never to be recouped, a debt we can never truly, fully repay.

And yet, Memorial Day provides us the opportunity at the very least to acknowledge that debt, to recognize this incredible sacrifice and to recommit ourselves to making sure it wasn't spent in vain.

Upon the graves of our war dead - be they from Lexington and Concord; Gettysburg and Antietam; the Argonnes Forest or the beaches of Normandy; Chosin and Inchon; Saigon and the Mekong Delta; Baghdad or Kandahar -- rests not only the memories and the pride of valor past, but the hope and the vision of a better, more peaceful future.

Please join me this Memorial Day in remembering, on behalf of present and coming generations, the deep and abiding debt we owe to our fallen and to their loved ones. 

Have a great day!

Simon W. Rosenberg DMD