The parade is marching, the fireworks are set, and the crowd is buzzing. Lost in the midst of celebration, people seem to have forgotten what Memorial Day is truly about. Memorial Day is honoring our brave soldiers who went into war, not just fireworks and delicious food. I feel people have forgotten the true meaning of Memorial Day. Honestly, it’s devastating. May 25th is about celebrating the lives of our veterans.

It takes an insane amount of courage to go into the military. Even when you join, you don’t know that you’re going into war. You won’t know until they tell you. Waiting to hear if they’re sending you off to Iraq or Afghanistan or any other place is truly terrifying. You don’t want the call, yet you still want to serve your country. People go off to war, people come back from war. It doesn’t make it any better. Every time a soldier dies in war, somebody loses a family member.

Unfortunately, soldiers DO get killed in war. It’s a sad and unavoidable fact. I, myself, don’t like thinking about what our soldiers are going through, and that they may not make it out. It’s scary. Every time a soldier dies, somebody loses their father, their mother, their brother, their sister, their uncle, etc. Nobody is unaffected by a soldier’s death. War is a pretty awful thing. What the brave soldiers go through is unimaginable. Just thinking about it is unthinkable.


The main purpose of Memorial Day is to remember our veterans. The brave soldiers who risked their lives to protect our country, The United States of America. I am proud to have those young (and some times old) people in my country. They did what the cowards could not, and actually went into war. Veterans make the United States the United States.


Hopefully, in later years, people will once again understand Memorial Day. I believe Memorial Day is about our veterans, courage, and who is/was serving.