Memorials

Joey and Carla Link

May 21, 2025

Many people in the United States celebrate Memorial Day weekend as the start of their summer. We are confident, if we stood on the street and asked people what Memorial Day stood for, most adults 50 years and older would be able to tell you it was a day set aside to honor those in the military who were killed in action. If you asked your kids what would they tell you?

On May 30, 1868, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union military veterans, “Decoration Day,” which Memorial Day was first known by, was first widely observed as a time to commemorate the sacrifice of Civil War soldiers.

In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May. Many Southern states also have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. The Civil War, or The War Between the States as it was also known, is still the war that claimed the most American lives of all wars the United States has been involved in, with an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers dying in the conflict. 

It was always sobering, on our visits to Washington D.C., to walk through the area where there are various memorials to those who died in each of the wars American soldiers served in. Reading the names of those killed in the Vietnam War on the massive wall created to honor them made me (Carla) think of each person’s parents, spouse, kids and other family members and friends who lived their lives without their loved ones in them. 

Another memorial has life-sized statutes of men in uniform running with rifles poised at another army (left to your imagination), just a few feet away who were running straight towards them. Think about being one of those men on the front lines. You would have to wonder if you could survive. 

Joey’s dad, a veteran of WWII was with us on one of these visits and we went to view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This memorial is a beautiful reminder to us all of the thousands of military men and women who died in battle, whether by ground, sea or air, whose bodies were never found. Joey’s Dad was crying and when I squeezed his hand, he whispered to me,“Men I knew never came back or were never found. So, so many were left behind.”

As Christians, we have a memorial that we honor at Easter. It is a cross where Jesus hung to absolve us of our sins. Do your kids realize how horrible that kind of death was? If you were the only person in the history of mankind, do you know Jesus still would have gone to the cross to die for you, so that you could have eternal life with Him? 

While the cross is a memorial of that dark day, Jesus’ resurrection 3 days later is what we get to celebrate every year on Easter Sunday. His resurrection is our memorial that we too get to have life eternal if we believe and worship Him.

In the words of the chorus of the hymn, “When We All Get to Heaven” – 

When we all get to heaven,

What a day of rejoicing that will be!

When we all see Jesus,

We’ll sing and shout the victory!