This year we celebrate Memorial Day on Monday, May 26. When I was a kid we called it “Decoration Day,” because gravesites of veterans who died in our nation’s service were decorated. While there are many different stories about when this patriotic holiday originated, everyone seems to agree on the following: the day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The southern states honored their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

So what about “gridlock”? Memorial Day is now celebrated on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays). There are some, however, who feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend, it made it easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. The VFW, for example, said that “changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”

Here is where we are now on that issue: on January 19, 1999, the sainted senator from Hawaii, Senator Inouye, introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of “the last Monday in May”. On April 19, 1999 the sainted Representative Sam Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform. To date, there have been no further developments on the bill. For us, being “nonchalant” about the sacrifices of so many on behalf of our country is not who we are. We join you in saying a hearty “THANKS” to all those who have served on our behalf.