To many people, Memorial Day is best known as the unofficial start to summer in America. Celebrated on the last Monday of May each year, the holiday is a time for dressing in patriotic colors, grilling food on the barbecue, and splashing around at pool parties - and, of course, for indulging in a day off work. And while those festivities make for joyful celebrations, the holiday's history is rooted in much more solemn traditions.
Its origins after the Civil War make Memorial Day about 150 years old - but it has morphed over time. After World War I, the day expanded to include the tradition of honoring all who have died in all American wars. And it wasn't until 1971 that Memorial Day's modern history was really defined: That's when it became a national holiday by an act of Congress passed three years earlier (known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act) and its observation was sealed as the last Monday in May.
Modern Memorial Day follows a specific timeline
Federal guidelines indicate that flags on the holiday be flown at half staff -
but only until noon, according to VA.gov. That's when they should be swiftly
raised to the top of the pole until sunset, as part of the time-honored
tradition of paying tribute to America's fallen soldiers. There is also an
official time to remember the lost each year on Memorial Day: The official
National Moment of Remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. local time around the
country.
We will be providing an abbreviated
content sheet on that Monday with relevant and
interesting details to your country music audience. Regular content returns on Tuesday May 28th.
For your shows and imaging needs we have created one of the
largest groups of audio Memorial
Day/Weekend liners in all of country music to assist in
your needs. Just visit the
AandOandB.com
website and click on the AUDIO page and then click the Memorial Day (Weekend) ARTIST Liners
folder.
See the MEMORIAL DAY MILITARY AND TROOPS REFERENCESfolder for useful audio content complied by Dan Van.
Here are some interesting statistics concerning military and weekend traditions below:
Follow me on INSTAGRAMand YouTube DAN VAN Channel.
Dan Vanis associated with Albright & O'Malley & Brenner,
country music consultants, providing relevant information for today's
fast paced radio listeners. More details or for contact visit: www.aandoandb.com/.
