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Banks will be closed Monday. The mail won't be delivered, nor will the local newspaper. Schools, those that aren't out for the summer, will close their doors. Streets in small-town America will be lined with people along parade routes.
Surely, at at least one of those parades, a youngster will look at his father, mother or grandparent and ask why he or she is there.
But what will the elder answer? Why are the banks closed, schools not in session? Why won't the mail or local newspaper be delivered?
The answer, well, that depends on who you talk to.
For some, it's barbecues and tickets to the Indy 500, or just a relaxing three-day weekend. According to the calendar, it's Memorial Day.
But what is Memorial Day?
"A day to remember the veterans who kept this country free," Norm Hubler, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran and past commander of Warsaw American Legion Post 49 said. "Freedom isn't free, and we need to remember the price they paid. Not just those who lost their lives in Normandy, or in Korea, or in the muddy fields of Vietnam, but those who still suffer the ravages of war."
A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m.# Monday at Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw. Warsaw Community High School teacher Joe Conlon will be the keynote speaker. Conlon calls his speech "Freedom is Never Free." Conlon said his speech will cover the "cost of Memorial Day."
When asked what Memorial Day means to him, Conlon, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1970-75, said: "It's a time when we need to think about why we have this three-day weekend. There's a long line of service that goes back to the start of this country. American's have always believed there are things worth fighting for. We need to remember those who lost their lives, those who came home wounded and scarred, and those that are still serving today, men and women in all branches."
Memorial Day began right after the Civil War when a group of wives and widows of Confederate soldiers placed flowers on the graves of the fallen. As the story goes, the group felt sorry and put flowers on the graves of the fallen Union soldiers as well. A year later, 1868, Gen. John A. Logan ordered everyone to do the same. It was then named Decoration Day. In 1971, an act of Congress designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day.
"There's nothing wrong with enjoying the three-day weekend," Hubler said. "We need to take a moment and understand why we have a three-day weekend, why we have Memorial Day."
For some, the answer to what Memorial Day is all about may come at a parade somewhere when the American flag passes in front of them. In some countries, a flag is just a piece of material. For those who believe the American flag is nothing more than a sewn together pattern, Edna McCutcheon, a member of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 9 in Jacksonville, Fla., offers the following poem titled "Just A Piece of Cloth"
Just a piece of cloth is what I heard him say.
Did you know that piece of cloth is why you're here today?
You see, it stands for many things, that you would not defend.
Like peace and liberty and freedom, that's why we had to win.
You watched it turn to ashes on the lawn that day, and when it was all over you walked away.
At that very moment my son was fighting for you, And to defend that piece of cloth, his own red, white and blue.
He wouldn't turn his back, he knew what he had to do. For the likes of you who had no guts, he gave all he had to give, that you, and many like you, could have a place to live.
They draped the flag on his coffin and sent him home to me. I cherish that piece of cloth that he will never see.
