Hey Alabama: This Is What Memorial Day Is About

Memorial Day has become, for many of us, the unofficial start of summer, a long weekend filled with cookouts, lake trips, baseball games, and red, white, and blue everywhere you look.

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While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying time with family and celebrating the freedoms we’re blessed to have, it’s important that we remember what this day truly means.

Memorial Day was created to honor the men and women who gave their lives serving this country—those who never made it back home to the families who loved them.

It seems like commercialism has all but swallowed the day, turning us into people who are more concerned with heading to the lake, grilling out, and slathering on the sunscreen beachside than with the true remembrance of what the day ACTUALLY means. We decorate our tablescapes with patriotic plates and American Flags flanked by red poppy centerpieces, but even those little flowers mean more on Memorial Day than most people realize.

They serve as a universal symbol of remembrance for military service members who died in war. This meaning stems from World War I, when vibrant red poppies bloomed across the war-torn, churned-up battlefields of Europe, inspiring the famous wartime poem "In Flanders Fields".

The holiday traces its roots back to the years following the Civil War, when communities gathered to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, prayers, and quiet gratitude. Originally called “Decoration Day,” one of the earliest observances took place in Charleston, South Carolina, where formerly enslaved people honored Union soldiers by creating a proper burial ground and leading a procession filled with flowers and patriotic songs. Even today, that image speaks volumes about sacrifice, freedom, and remembrance.

Over the years, Memorial Day ceremonies spread across the country, but the heart behind the day has remained the same: honoring those who gave everything for our freedom.

For military families and veterans, Memorial Day is deeply personal. It’s a reminder of loved ones, friends, and fellow service members who never came home. As President Harry Truman once said, “America will never forget its sacrifices.”

So this Memorial Day, enjoy the barbecue, the family time, and the long weekend. But somewhere in the middle of the celebrations, take a quiet moment to remember the brave men and women whose sacrifice made all of it possible.