What is Memorial Day Really About?
This is Memorial Day weekend. To most people reading this site, we know it as the weekend for the Running of the Indianapolis 500 each year. Those of us that attend each year, or watch diligently on television are exposed to a lot of celebration of our US Military. I have many loyal readers that live in other countries, and I’ve had the honor of actually meeting a couple of them (Oliver W in the UK, as well as Trevor Gardiner also in the UK). I don’t really expect non-US residents to fully understand what Memorial Day is about, but I do think Americans should know. Unfortunately, many do not.
Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was once called, dates back to 1868 when it was a designated day to decorate the graves of those killed in service in the American Civil War. Memorial Day used to be observed each year on May 30. That was also when the Indianapolis 500 would run – May 30, unless that date fell on a Sunday and it would then run on Monday May 31. My first Indianapolis 500 was in 1965, and it ran on Monday May 31, 1965. It didn’t matter if May 30 fell on a Wednesday, that is when they ran the race. Congress voted to change Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, and that first took place in 1971. Race officials chose to run the 500 each Saturday before Memorial Day, and it was that way for the next three years. For the first time ever, the Indianapolis 500 was held on a Sunday in 1974 – the day before Memorial Day. It is still that way today.
It is true that there is a lot of celebration of our US Military over the Memorial Day weekend. But it seems a lot of people miss the point of who we are honoring. While we appreciate all who served, living or dead or still active; Memorial Day is about honoring those who gave the greatest sacrifice. They gave their life in military service in battle or conflict. My father’s identical twin brother was career Navy and is buried at Arlington. Are we honoring him on Memorial Day? Nope, he died of a stroke at home at the age of 74 in 2000. He served his country in two wars, but died of natural causes decades later. We honor him on Veterans Day, November 11 – a day set aside to honor our veterans who served at one time in the past.
There is a third US holiday for honoring our troops – Armed Forces Day, which celebrates those who are currently serving. That day is the third Saturday in May, which is why Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Weekend is dubbed Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend, which explains the large military presence on the grounds that weekend.
So when you hear Taps played just before the singing of (Back Home Again in) Indiana by Jim Cornelison, that’s why you could hear a pin drop among the more than 300,000 in attendance. It is a moment of silence, to remember our war dead – those that gave the ultimate sacrifice (their lives) so that we Americans can live as free men and women, and attend events such as the Indianapolis 500 as we wish. Many want to include veterans and active military to be honored on Memorial Day. They have their days. Let’s keep Memorial Day about honoring the war dead. We certainly don’t want to forget them, and lump all others into their day. Let’s at least give them that.
George Phillips
May 23, 2026 at 5:53 am
Well said, George. The opening ceremonies has lost this concept. The active military s honored more on race day then those to whom the day is dedicated.
May 23, 2026 at 8:03 am
For those of us who have served, most of us realize what and who Memorial Day is for. Unfortunately, I’ve had to explain (to mostly adults) why theirs a three-gun salute and Taps is played. Even the news media can’t get it right…. (https://youtu.be/21gxk2O9sZk?si=XDf0NBMPB-l4q4Fj). I even did a little search to see that there’s a lot about honoring veterans, but not much about the many hundreds of thousands who gave their lives to ensure we live free. So before you think about this as the first weekend of summer, just remember what Memorial Day is really all about. Good read George!
May 23, 2026 at 8:21 am
Ooops… should be “there’s”
May 23, 2026 at 9:54 am
In the name of making more money The Speedway has lost a bit of respect in the prerace ceremonies. I sit in the NW Vista and you can hear the turn 3 snakepit chaos of reverberating noise and profanity over their speaker. Often the racket is not shut down in time and the chaos continues during the ceremonies. I find this very sad and disrespectful.
May 23, 2026 at 11:50 am
Thank you George. Enjoy the weekend and, as always, we’ll be watching from across the water.
May 23, 2026 at 6:03 pm
My grandfather fought in WW2. He was in the RAF from 1941. As a naive English boy who’d spent his entire life on a farm until that point, he got sent across the Atlantic to Canada. The way he told it, he saw a ginger ale advertisement billboard on landing in Toronto and took it at its word to “Drink Canada Dry”. Though I’m pretty sure a lot of his tales were exaggerated.