“Thank you for your service!”
Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring our fallen countrymen who paid the ultimate price to protect our way of life and those of other people. Traditionally, Memorial Day is dedicated to the men and women of the US Armed Services who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
However, in light of the worldwide pandemic, we take this unique opportunity to include our remembrance and prayers for the thousands of health workers, medical front-liners, military personnel, and other essential laborers.
They have risked and are still risking their lives in the noble effort to alleviate the current situation. Those people do not have the luxury to work from the safety of their homes. Thus, they deserve our thanks.
Memorial Day History
The history of Memorial Day goes back to the end of the American Civil War. The aftermath of the war was devastating and many men and women of the armed forces sacrificed their lives in serving the nation.
The war lasted from 1861 to 1865 and is it came to an end, many communities across the country used to hold small ceremonies as a tribute to the fallen brothers. Initially, these events were known by the name of Decoration Day.
The first record of Decoration Day dates back to May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. Teachers, missionaries, and former slaves all gathered to pay tribute to the soldiers who died and were buried in mass graves at a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp. The people cleaned the burial site and the landscape surrounding it. They also organized a ceremony including thank you speeches and laying flowers on the burial site.
The word of their homage quickly spread around the country and people began to follow their way of showing gratitude. Major General John A. Logan who was the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic officially established the Decoration Day. During the year 1868, he gave the order to mark My 30, as a day to decorate the graves of the Civil War Soldiers. Overtime, the Decoration Day evolved into Memorial Day.
Historically, Memorial Day was observed on May 30, from 1868 to 1970. After that, it was changed to fall on the last Monday of May to let Americans have a three-day weekend to accomplish all their tasks. As Labor Day is considered the beginning of autumn, Memorial Day serves unofficially as the beginning of summer.
Memorial Day Services
Memorial Day is typically observed with private visits to memorials and cemeteries. In some places, parades are held, albeit in a more solemn manner, but not without the pride and respect so richly deserved of such an occasion. Other activities include a special concert held at the US Capitol Building’s west lawn and wreath-laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Another time-honored ceremony performed on Memorial Day concerns raising the United States flag or “Old Glory” to the half-staff position. It is initially pulled up swiftly to full-staff, and then fervently lowered to the middle. The flag stays there until noon, then is raised back to the top for the rest of the day.
During Memorial Day’s solemn ceremonies, one cannot ignore the overwhelming pride and respect from remembering and honoring all those who perished in the past military campaigns in which the United States Armed Forces participated.
From the Revolution of Independence; the great battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg in the American Civil War; the trenches of the Somme in World War I; the beaches of Normandy and jungles of the Pacific in World War II; the frozen Chosin Reservoir in the Korean conflict; the A Shau and La Drang valleys of Vietnam; the scorching deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as those less known, yet equally significant battles.
In all these, the American soldier, G.I., airman, sailor, marine, medical personnel, and countless others gave their lives to preserve democracy and protect the freedom we now enjoy and most often neglect to appreciate.
The following inspiring Memorial Day quotes will fill you with the nation’s fervor and pride in honoring the sacrifice of our great heroes throughout time.
Happy Memorial Day Quotes
Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.
Calvin Coolidge
The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree.
Thomas Campbell
Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.
Theodore Roosevelt
Veterans are a symbol of what makes our nation great, and we must never forget all they have done to ensure our freedom.
Rodney Frelinghuysen
Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Memorial Day this year is especially important as we are reminded almost daily of the great sacrifices that the men and women of the Armed Services make to defend our way of life.
Robin Hayes
No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.
General Douglas MacArthur
True patriotism isn’t cheap. It’s about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.
Robert Reich
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt
There are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism.
Robert Charles Winthrop
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
Joseph Campbell
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
Plato
Never was so much owed by so many few.
Winston Churchill
Man is a military animal, glories in gunpowder, and loves parade.
Philip James Bailey
The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree.
Thomas Campbell
Memorial Day isn’t just about honoring veterans, it’s honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that’s a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It’s a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it.
Pete Hegseth
Home of the free, because of the brave.
Unknown
America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor.
Paul Tsongas
To those in uniform serving today and to those who have served in the past, we honor you today and every day.
Unknown
Memorial Day Quotes And Sayings
There is nothing nobler than risking your life for your country.
Nick Lampson
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale
It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.
Norman Schwarzkopf
The brave die never, though they sleep in dust, their courage nerves a thousand living men.
Minot J. Savage
These fallen heroes represent the character of a nation who has a long history of patriotism and honor – and a nation who has fought many battles to keep our country free from threats of terror.
Michael N. Castle
May we never forget freedom isn’t free.
Unknown
There’s intense national feeling in America that could be called patriotism.
Michael Ignatieff
No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.
James Allen
Veterans are a symbol of what makes our nation great, and we must never forget all they have done to ensure our freedom.
Rodney Frelinghuysen
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.
Unknown
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived.
George S. Patton
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain
The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.
Benjamin Disraeli
Who sows virtue reaps honor.
Leonardo da Vinci
For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.
James A. Garfield
Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours.
Wallace Bruce
As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation’s wars.
John M. McHugh
This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.
Elmer Davis
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.
John F. Kennedy
Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.
Jennifer M. Granholm
My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy
The heroes of Flight 93 won the first battle in the War on Terror, and they should never be forgotten.
Jim Ramstad
Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
Sun Tzu
Memorial Day Inspirational Quotes
The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.
Jeff Miller
Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.
G.K. Chesterson
Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.
James Bryce
Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.
Adlai Stevenson II
No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.
James Allen
And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier’s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.
Joseph Rodman Drake
For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.
James A. Garfield
America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels.
Claudia Pemberton
I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.
James A. Baldwin
So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.
Helen Keller
The average American is nothing if not patriotic.
Herbert Croly
Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory there would be no civilization, no future.
Elie Wisel
You silent tents of green, We deck with fragrant flowers; Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
George William Curtis
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
Charles de Gaulle
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
George Washington
I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.
John Thune
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived.
George S. Patton
The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.
Jeff Miller
Best Memorial Day Quotes
No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur
I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism.
Bob Riley
Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Patriotism was a living fire of unquestioned belief and purpose.
Frank Knox
Over all our happy country – over all our Nation spread, is a band of noble heroes– is our Army of the Dead.
Will Carleton
On Memorial Day, I don’t want to only remember the combatants. There were also those who came out of the trenches as writers and poets, who started preaching peace, men and women who have made this world a kinder place to live.
Eric Burdon
My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt
In remembering those who lost their lives in the London attacks and the September 11th attacks we continue our commitment to fighting for freedom, democracy and justice.
Doc Hastings
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale
And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
Country singer Lee Greenwood
There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.
William J. Clinton
While only one day of the year is dedicated to honoring our veterans, American’s must never forget the sacrifices many of our fellow countrymen have made to defend our country and protect our freedom.
Congressman Randy Neugebauer
137 years later, Memorial Day remains one of America’s most cherished patriotic observances. The spirit of this day has not changed-it remains a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy.
Congressman Doc Hastings
What I can do for my country, I am willing to do.
Christopher Gadsen
A man is a patriot if his heart beats true to his country.
Charles E. Jefferson
Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.
John Adams
If you want to thank a soldier, be the kind of American worth fighting for.
Unknown
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
Ronald Reagan
I would rather be remembered by a song than by a victory.
Alexander Smith
Let their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.
Daniel Webster
On what rests the hope of the republic? One country, one language, one flag!
Alexander Henry
During Memorial Day, we are able to return, even in small measure, the priceless gift these brave men and women bestowed on us. We are all alive and enjoying the fruits of freedom because they laid down their lives for the principles upon which the United States of America was built.
Also Read: 100+ Freedom Quotes And Sayings