Holidays — our “holy days” — are meant to meet the moment. Be joyful when it’s a day for celebration. Be solemn when it’s a day for mourning.
Some are made for celebration, like Holi or Thanksgiving, with full plates and full hearts. Others ask us to reflect: Yom Kippur, Ramadan, Ash Wednesday. And some, like Christmas or Passover, mix both to honor the sacred while gathering together.
Memorial Day was never meant to be cheery. Originally called Decoration Day, it was created in 1868 by Union Gen. John A. Logan as a nationwide day of mourning. May 30 was chosen because it didn’t mark a specific Civil War battle, just the idea of loss itself. That first observance included a speech by future President James Garfield at Arlington National Cemetery, where 5,000 people decorated the graves of 20,000 fallen soldiers.
For decades, Memorial Day honored only those lost in the Civil War. But as American wars stacked up — World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan — the day expanded. What began as flowers on graves became a national pause to remember every soldier who didn’t make it home.
In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, moving Memorial Day to the last Monday in May. It became an official federal holiday in 1971.
And it’s not “happy.”
We take the day off. We barbecue. We shop a little. But we also try — just a little — to remember. Because that’s the point. These holy days only work when we respect their meaning.
Someone should remind President Trump.
This morning, he attended a ceremony at Arlington, joined by Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Flags hung like ceremonial drapes. Soldiers stood in formal tribute. It was, for a moment, appropriately somber.
And then he got online.
On Truth Social, unlike any former president, Trump shouted his Memorial Day message in all caps. He sent “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY” greetings to the “SCUM TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY” and others he believes are persecuting him.
Because grief, apparently, is no excuse to stay off the internet. Holy days deserve reverence. This one, especially, asks for quiet. For reflection. For gratitude.
But for this White House, even remembrance is a performance. Even mourning is a stage.
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