Mother Nature is promising us great weather for the upcoming holiday weekend — a three-day period that traditionally marks the start of the summer season. But Memorial Day, which the nation will observe Monday, is far too important to be dismissed as merely the start of another season. Although relatively new as a national holiday — Congress formally gave Memorial Day that designation in 1971 — the holiday has been with us for well more than a century. First known as Decoration Day, the holiday began as a period set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves with floral arrangements. Exactly where the practice began is in dispute. While the federal government declared in 1966 that Waterloo, N.Y., is where the holiday got its start, several other communities — including Boalsburg in central Pennsylvania — lay claim to being the holiday’s birthplace. Regardless where the practice of decorating the graves of deceased servicemen with flowers got its start, it was first widely celebrated on May 30, 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued the holiday’s first official declaration. From that relatively humble start, the holiday has grown to the point that countless services are staged in communities across the U.S. each year in memory of the deceased men and women who served in our armed forces. Many others use the last Monday in May as a time to honor all deceased friends and relatives, regardless of their military record. We urge our readers to do just that this Memorial Day weekend. We also hope they remember the men and women who now find themselves fighting in America’s behalf in the ongoing war on terror. Please understand that Memorial Day means more than picnics and other summertime activities — much, much more.

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