It’s Memorial Day. The nation has paused in observance. Do you know why? If the answer is no, you’re not alone.
Only 46% of the adults who participated in a USAA survey last year knew that the holiday is a moment to and honor U.S. military personnel who died in service to the country.
It’s a foggy topic for many even though more than 507,000 American military personnel died in conflicts dating back to World War II.
The lack of clarity even exists in San Diego County, the home of 110,000 active-duty personnel, 240,000 veterans, and roughly 23,000 civilian defense workers. It’s among the largest military communities anywhere, not just in the US.
“A lot of people think Memorial Day is the first day of summer, or a great time to look for a deal on furniture, or to go to the movies,” said Marc Okicich, a retired Marine who lives in Pacific Beach.
“It is about more than that.”
The sentiment is shared by Phil Kendro, a retired Marine from Rancho Bernardo.
“I want people to go out and have lots of fun over Memorial Day,” said Kendro. “But I also want them to know what the military did to make their lives safer, better. People died for this country.”
Karl Zingheim, the historian for the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, isn’t surprised that many people don’t understand the purpose of Memorial Day, which was first celebrated in 1868.
“We tend to be a forward looking society that doesn’t dwell on the past,” said Zingheim, who served in the Navy. “That’s frustrating for historians, but I think its a healthy sign.”
It’s also a heart-wrenching subject. Military strongholds like San Diego County have suffered enormous losses. More than 2,700 Marines and Navy Corpsmen from Camp Pendleton’s 5th Marine Regiment were killed during the Vietnam War. Many of the more than 836 Marines who died at the battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War also were from Pendleton.
And there have been losses during times of comparative peace. Last year, Nathan Gage Ingram, a Navy SEAL based in Coronado, drowned in the Arabian Sea while trying to help stem the flow of Iranian-made weapons to Yemen.
The public’s general awareness of lost lives has been diminished by many things, particularly the decision by Congress in 1971 to permanently move Memorial Day to the last Monday in May. That created a three-day weekend, which has come to be known as the start of summer, a major launch date for new movies, and a great time for outdoor sports and backyard parties.
It’s impossible to ignore. The public has been turning out in droves this weekend to catch the new Tom Cruise movie, “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning”.
The purpose of Memorial Day also has become fuzzier because there are ever fewer veterans to tell the story. The number of living veterans fell by 7.7 million from 2005 to 2023, and continues to drop.
Kathryn Warren, a retired Marine from Oceanside, is doing what she can to keep the story alive. Last week, she was in Savannah, Ga., socializing with fellow veterans who in turn spread the word to others.
“Memorial Day is not the kickoff to summer,” Warren said. “It’s a time to remind people that many people in the military paid the ultimate price during war. We share that with young people in hopes that they will amplify it.”
