It’s Memorial Day weekend, a time for welcoming summer activities. Please take a moment out of your leisure-filled weekend to honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces and remember those who died for our country.
This Memorial Day, my husband and I will take a trip to the cemetery to visit his father’s grave. His dad served as a medic in the Army during the Korean War, and he died last year. It will be our first Memorial Day trip to pay our respects.
Twenty years ago, I helped promote the first PBS broadcast of The National Memorial Day Concert, live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, and had the honor to work with the producers of that program for many years. It’s a wonderful annual tradition that pays heartfelt tribute to our men and women in uniform. The 90-minute program airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. (but check your local listings, which can vary!).
And the Associated Press just ran a beautiful feature story on the Arlington Ladies, women who ensure that every serviceman or servicewoman buried in Arlington National Cemetery has someone to witness the burial and stand with the family. It’s a great piece about compassion at the graveside, a lesson we could all use at any time of year, not just Memorial Day.