By: David Weinstein
It’s a day both solemn and celebratory.
Solemn, with respect for the more than 1 million American lives lost in various wars.
Celebratory, with respect for the heroics, deeds and bravery of each and every person who served in the United States military.
On Memorial Day, the American flag is flown at half-staff until noon, then raised completely afterward, to the top of its pole, overlooking the men and the women to whom the holiday of Memorial Day belongs.
A gun salute in their honor is fired into the consciousness of the living.
Heads are tipped for Taps, the memorial brass music in which the memory of the dead lives on and still breathes.
“It’s a day we commemorate and honor those that have given so much,” said Al Kady, a Monmouth Junction resident and World War II veteran.
“This is necessary, to honor those who are buried on hallowed ground. It’s their supreme sacrifice that allows us, the living, to remember what has been done,” Mr. Kady said.
At 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 28, the celebration of Memorial Day in South Brunswick will begin when wreaths are placed at the war memorial in front of the Municipal Complex on Route 522.
Following the ceremony, a flag dedication will take place at Miller Memorial Presbyterian Church in Monmouth Junction, at approximately noon.
The next day, Memorial Day, the township will continue its commemoration with a series of celebrations.
Memorial services will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at VFW Post 9111 on Henderson Road in Kendall Park.
From there, Mr. Kady said, the group will travel the short distance to Sand Hills Road, to the grave site of Civil War soldier Aaron Hush, and from there, to a cemetery on Beekman Road for further commemoration. At both sites, wreathes will be laid close to the graves.
Also on Monday, the South Brunswick High School Band will, at approximately 11:30 a.m., play music fitting the occasion at the American Legion Post on Major Road. A gun salute will follow, and Taps will then be played.
From there, after coffee and pie at the Legion, the group will again travel to the Municipal Complex on Route 522 to place wreathes and prayers at the war memorial in front of the building.
The history of Memorial Day is storied, and began following the Civil War’s end in the mid-1860s.
Though several towns across the country have claimed their own as the birthplace of the holiday after the Civil War, Congress passed a resolution in 1968 proclaiming Waterloo, N.Y., as the holiday’s true birthplace.
This came 100 years after Memorial Day was first proclaimed, on May 5, 1868 in Waterloo by Gen. John Logan, then the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The holiday was then known as Decoration Day, during which the graves of Civil War soldiers were flowered with attention.
It was celebrated on May 30 in 1868, and that practice remained so until Congress, with its 1968 resolution, made the last Monday in May the legal federal holiday.
World War II veteran Victor Kovacs said Wednesday the services are an important part of honoring the past, and that the day is much larger in scope than a three-day weekend for shopping and opening backyard swimming pools.
“It’s a part of our history, this day,” he said. “I urge people to go to the Posts and to the Legion, to attend the memorial services, to participate in this day.
“People should take a little time to shake the hands of some of our veterans and thank them. They’ll greatly appreciate the gesture,” Mr. Kovacs said.
