Memorial Day 2020:  Bullhorn media would be remiss if we did not blast out Happy Holiday Greetings in honor of this coming Memorial Day.  Additionally, we know this Memorial Day will be more remarkable than ever as states ease restrictions from coronavirus shut-downs and quarantines. Traditionally, Memorial Day signifies the beginning of summer. So, this is a great time to join families and friends for picnics and barbeque, if you are not under quarantine. However, we do need to be mindful of social distancing, of course, and masks if mandated.

Memorial Day:  More than a Three-Day-Holiday

Memorial Day 2020, We Offer a Prayer for Our Fallen Heroes.

Memorial Day Means, We Honor the Military Men and Women Who Gave Their Lives So We Could Be Free!

We are checking out our camera gear and preparing to get plenty of photo and video memories of the holiday. We know the backyards, parks  and the beaches of Florida will be filled with carefully spaced memory-making gatherings.

However, let us not forget the reason this holiday was established. We hope you will stop to realize this three-day-holiday means so more than the initiation of the Summer Season.

A Pause for Patriotism, Memory and Honor

Memorial Day is the time when we pause our busy thoughts and lives. Certainly, it’s a time to give thanks for the military service men and women, who have given their lives so we can remain free and safe in the United States of America. Yes, it’s a time for remembrance.

In addition, it’s a time for honor.  Sadly, some communities will observe Memorial Day in unique ways or online ways this year. We also, realize that many areas have canceled parades and in-person ceremonies. “Some towns and villages have looked to the internet to celebrate the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”

And certainly, we should all feel blessed to need to look no further than our laptop computers and phones to see tributes to our fallen heroes.

The Meaning Behind the Poppy Flower

We all are familiar with the paper poppies that “bloom” each year at this time. They are familiarly displayed, pinned to a collar or lapel. Wearing a poppy is a traditional way to show our honor and remembrance for the soldiers who died in our wars over the centuries. The poppy is a symbol not only of remembrance of the men and women who served militarily in our country, but also of the ultimate sacrifice they made.

Do you know the name of the first person to wear a poppy in honor of the military dead of America? Here name was Moina Belle Michael, and she was an American teacher. She lived from 1869 to 1944.  She became deeply moved by Lt. Col. John McCrai’s 1915 poem, “In Flanders Fields.”  Thus she vowed to always wear a red poppy in honor of the brave soldiers who died in World War I.

Have You Heard about the Memorial Day Poppy Wall of Honor?

The USAA Poppy Wall of Honor contains more than 645,000 artificial poppies. Each one symbolizes the sacrifice and loss of a solder in the line of duty since WWI.  One side of the wall consists of the flowing red traditional poppy flowers. The other side contains a display of facts about each U.S. conflict. Notably, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars joined forces to create this memorial.  It went on display at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 2018, and 2019.

This year you can tour it online at this informative online resource.

You will not only see the poppy wall online, but the other side of it, the historical commentary about the heroics behind these conflicts:

A Memorial Day Thought… If We Don’t Teach Our Children About Honor and Sacrifice…Who Will?

WWI,

WW II,

The Korean War,

The Vietnam War,

Desert Shield/Dessert Storm,

The Global War on Terror,

Other conflicts,

We Shall Keep the Faith.

 

Remembering the Fallen

Do you know how this traditional holiday began?  Originally, Memorial Day was established as a day to both decorate the graves and commemorate the lives those who died on both sides of the Civil War in the United States. Experts have written,

“By the time the Civil War ended in the spring of 1865, it had claimed so many soldiers’ lives — a devastating 620,000, the most of any conflict in American history — that it necessitated the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries, according to History.com.”

Memorial Day 2020:  An Ever-Expanding Holiday

The experts at History.com. added, “Within about a decade’s time, Americans across multiple locations had started to hold rituals each spring as a way to honor the lost soldiers, by decorating their graves.”  See more of the story by clicking onto this convenient source.

Since then, America has gained more and heroes from subsequent conflicts. Consequently, it is fitting that we honor them and never forget their supreme sacrifice.

Memorial Day: Take-Away for 2020

We also pause to recognize that this year 930,542 Americans who fought the Invisible Enemy of COVID-19.  Although most of them were civilians, perhaps they take can their place of honored resting in our hearts beside our honored military. And we memorialize them in with a bullhorn blast of honor on this blog.

You might not be able to find or make a paper poppy to wear. Thus we suggest you observe the holiday by reading the inspirational poem behind the tradition, In Flanders’ Fields:

The Poppy Flower is a Symbol of Remembrance and Sacrifice…A Tribute to Our Heroic Warriors Who Died on the Field of Battle.

In Flanders Fields

BY JOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

 

Memorial Day 2020: Take a Moment to Salute Our Warriors, Who Died So We Might Live in Freedom!

The Final Salute: Memorial Day Parades and Salutes Might Be Subdued Post COVID-19. But, You Can Still Take a Moment to Virtually Place a Flower on a Soldier’s Grave.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Here at Bullhorn Media, we send vigorous good wishes to you and yours at this festive yet solemn holiday.  Have a happy and meaningful Memorial Day Weekend.  And if you can, pause to say a prayer for a fallen hero.