The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

While the paper was getting sent to the press Monday, Memorial Day was happening. What is Memorial Day? You always hear things like, "It's a 3-day weekend" or "We are gonna grill, camp, go to the lake, and have fun." Yes, it is those things, but what is the true reason we celebrate Memorial Day and its significant history?

Memorial Day officially became a "federal holiday" in 1971. It is an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the US Military. Memorial Day used to be known as Decoration Day, which originally honored those who lost their lives fighting in the Civil War.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, establishing Memorial Day as the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971.

A family member of mine shared a story with me. It stands out because it is what Memorial Day is. She was deployed, and some men in her unit were stationed in a very dangerous area called "The Triangle of Death," while they were there, several soldiers lost their lives. But this particular night was horrific. Some men were ambushed, 4 American soldiers and 1 Iraqi soldier were killed, and 3 US soldiers were abducted. A massive search began with several assets involved in looking for these soldiers. One soldier was found 12 days later in a river, unfortunately, killed, and the other two were not found for over a year, which was determined; they suffered months of abuse and torture. So many lives were affected because of this one incident.

There are so many stories like this that are out there that these men and women live with. Memorial Day is hard for these friends, families, and loved ones. So I hope as this "Fun filled weekend" happened, you took a moment to remember what these brave men and women fought for. Big Sandy remembers.