In trying to define Memorial Day, the words of those who served our country are the most profound.
Recently, I stepped out of my office in Newark to ask folks walking on Market Street their thoughts on Memorial Day.
I learned some things aside from the fact that a LOT of people use earbuds these days.
"It's a day off, and I sure don't get a lot of 'em," said one person.
Two people had one-word answers: "Barbecues."
Another who overheard chimed in with, "You know ... barbecues, the beach, family gatherings."
One person said, "I like the parades. It's nice to see the flags and uniforms and it's not all sad."
"Veterans" was the one-word answer of yet another.
One woman summed it up in four succinct words: "Those who have fallen."
World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Stephen Gregg, center, looks at headstones with other veterans after they participated in the Memorial Day Commemoration held at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City in 1999. Since its inception as a holiday called Decoration Day in 1868, Memorial Day has inspired meaningful thought. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Your silent tents of green/we deck with fragrant flowers/yours has the suffering been/the memory shall be ours." Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich said "True patriotism isn't cheap. It's about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going."
Perhaps, the words of those who served are the most profound.
In a speech on Memorial Day in 2014, Desert Storm and Desert Shield veteran Johnny Q. Gogue III noted that the oath sworn by every U.S. soldier is reflected in their deeds and their sacrifices.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . . streaming from the eyes of the returning soldier. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the Officers appointed over me . . . sounding from the stumbling gait of the disabled veteran. According to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God . . . blasting from the cold stone face of a grave marker."
And in the brevity one would expect from Gen. George Patton, "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died."
"Rather we should thank God that such men lived."