Memorial Day Message from GSO 2018

To truly appreciate the sacred tradition of Memorial Day, one must understand the history of its origin and, therefore, its purposeful distinction from America's other great tradition of honoring service and sacrifice, Veteran’s Day.

Memorial Day began as “Decoration Day” in the solemn years following the American Civil War. As our country’s bloodiest war, the graves of her 620,000 fallen were dug in every community and family cemetery in the country with 20,000 fresh graves in America’s newly commissioned national cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. With the bloodshed of that desperate struggle for our nation’s survival still raw in the hearts of every citizen, families and loved ones of the fallen turned out across the country to decorate these hallowed graves in the springtime. Soon after the close of the war and the binding of the nation’s wounds, this tradition fell across the United States on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day was later recognized as a federal holiday over 100 years later in 1971.

Memorial Day is exclusively for pausing, remembering, reflecting and celebrating the sacred honor of those who gave their lives in the preservation of the American Promise here at home and in the countries of strangers across the globe by every generation of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen.

We at Gold Star Outfitters, Inc. extend our most heartfelt and prayerful meditations to the generations of Gold Star Families and their beloved who perished in the defense of our nation.