Memorial Day 2021
Memorial Day 2021
By: Robert J. Enos, Esq.
May 31, 2021
Today is Memorial Day, which is a time to honor the fallen of all of America’s wars. Memorial Day, which lies on the last Monday in May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. The United States and the freedom for which it stands was paid for with the valor and sacrifice made by those lost souls. So let us all give our solemn thanks for the freedom we enjoy for it was paid for with American blood.
While the first commemorative Memorial Day events were not held in the United States until the late 19th century, the practice of honoring those who have fallen in battle dates back thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans held annual days of remembrance for fallen solders each year, adorning their graves with flowers and holding public festivals and feasts in their honor. In Athens, public funerals for fallen soldiers were held after each battle, with the remains of the fallen on display for public mourning before a funeral procession took them to their internment in the Kerameikos, one of the city’s most prestigious cemeteries. One of the first known public tributes to war dead was in 431 B.C., when the Athenian general and statesman Pericles delivered a funeral oration praising the sacrifice and valor of those killed in the Peloponnesian War—a speech that some have compared in tone to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Memorial Day in the United States was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which a total of some 620,000 soldiers died between both sides. While honoring Union soldiers killed in battle, President Lincoln reminded us that through their deeds, the dead had spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. And that we the living could only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they so willingly gave a last full measure of devotion. Well, that was true then and especially so today. Our Nation’s war dead remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost and imposes a burden on us to remember. And just as those we honor now were willing to sacrifice, so too must we in a less final or heroic way be willing to give of ourselves.
Unlike other holidays, Memorial Day is not a celebration, but instead commemorates those who died in battle or died thereafter as a result of wounds sustained in combat. In other words, the purpose of Memorial Day is to memorialize the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Despite our best of intentions, what we must not do on this Memorial Day is forget those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, nor should we allow politics to denigrate our showing of respect for that sacrifice.
So while we enjoy our lives, our families and friends this Memorial Day may we never forget our fallen service men and women and know that freedom is not free, and our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes.
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Memorial Day 2021
By: Robert J. Enos, Esq.
May 31, 2021
Today is Memorial Day, which is a time to honor the fallen of all of America’s wars. Memorial Day, which lies on the last Monday in May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. The United States and the freedom for which it stands was paid for with the valor and sacrifice made by those lost souls. So let us all give our solemn thanks for the freedom we enjoy for it was paid for with American blood.
While the first commemorative Memorial Day events were not held in the United States until the late 19th century, the practice of honoring those who have fallen in battle dates back thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans held annual days of remembrance for fallen solders each year, adorning their graves with flowers and holding public festivals and feasts in their honor. In Athens, public funerals for fallen soldiers were held after each battle, with the remains of the fallen on display for public mourning before a funeral procession took them to their internment in the Kerameikos, one of the city’s most prestigious cemeteries. One of the first known public tributes to war dead was in 431 B.C., when the Athenian general and statesman Pericles delivered a funeral oration praising the sacrifice and valor of those killed in the Peloponnesian War—a speech that some have compared in tone to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
Memorial Day in the United States was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which a total of some 620,000 soldiers died between both sides. While honoring Union soldiers killed in battle, President Lincoln reminded us that through their deeds, the dead had spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. And that we the living could only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they so willingly gave a last full measure of devotion. Well, that was true then and especially so today. Our Nation’s war dead remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost and imposes a burden on us to remember. And just as those we honor now were willing to sacrifice, so too must we in a less final or heroic way be willing to give of ourselves.
Unlike other holidays, Memorial Day is not a celebration, but instead commemorates those who died in battle or died thereafter as a result of wounds sustained in combat. In other words, the purpose of Memorial Day is to memorialize the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Despite our best of intentions, what we must not do on this Memorial Day is forget those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, nor should we allow politics to denigrate our showing of respect for that sacrifice.
So while we enjoy our lives, our families and friends this Memorial Day may we never forget our fallen service men and women and know that freedom is not free, and our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes.
Recent and Popular Articles From Our Blog:
2020 Blogs:
- April 28 – A New Reality – Temporary or Permanent – Virtual Showings and Disclosures
- May 22 – Servant Leadership
- June 8 – Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act is Enacted
- June 10 – Impact to Credit Score After Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- June 26 – SBA Rolls Out Updated PPP Loan Forgiveness Application
- July 2 – Understanding the Home Equity Sales Contract Act 2020
- July 14 – Governor Rolls Back Re-Opening
- August 4 – August 2020 COVID-19 Update
- August 18 – Status Of Selected California State Operations re: COVID-19
- September 1 – COVID Update on Foreclosures and Evictions
- September 3 – State Passes AB 3088
- September 15 – Update on PPP Forgiveness and Impacts
- November 10 – Changes to the Fair Housing and Discrimination Advisory CAR Form
- November 24 – In a Season of Difficulty – We Choose Gratitude
- December 15 – Cal/OSHA Issues New COVID Prevention Rule
2021 Blogs:
- January 5 – Introduction to New Laws 2021
- January 26- Rain and the Prevalence of Failure to Disclose Claims
- February 2 – California Enacts COVID Tenant Relief Act (SB 91)
- March 9 – Understanding the Trust Exception to Real Estate Disclosures
- April 20 – Cash for Keys and SB 91
- May 4 – Help! Tenant Won’t Cooperate with Sale of Home
- May 11 – California Passes AB 80