This is the one thing veterans want you to know about Memorial Day

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May 29, 2017 1:23 PM

Understand the true meaning of the day.

U.S. Army Capt. Ed Arntson of Chicago, Illinois kisses the grave of Staff Sgt. Henry Linck, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, in Arlington National Cemetery May 21, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia.

Do not thank me for my service because today is not about me at all.

That's what a number of fellow military veterans said, when I asked what they wanted people to know about Memorial Day.

While often seen as just a day off work or great time to barbeque, Memorial Day — not to be confused with Veterans Day — is a day of remembrance for approximately 1 million men and women who have died in defense of the United States since 1775.

The day has its roots in the Civil War, with a "Decoration Day" taking place three years after the war's end to decorate Union graves with flowers. Similar observances happened around the same time in the south. But it was Maj. Gen. John A. Logan who declared the day should be observed on May 30.

With an act of Congress in 1971, the day was proclaimed a national holiday for the last Monday in May and expanded to honor all who have died in American wars.

So you should definitely enjoy your day off, grill some steaks, and spend time with family and friends. But I challenge you — if you don't have any connection to the military — to really learn about just one fallen service member.

They didn't join the military for fame or reward, ambition or status. "In simple obedience to duty as they understood it," reads the inscription at Arlington's Confederate Memorial. "These men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all — and died."

Former Army Maj. Matthew Burden, a military blogger who often shares stories of the fallen, shared this:

Remembering them, and being a good friend, father, and an American is the best way that I can honor their memory."

I wholeheartedly agree.

This article was originally published in 2014.

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