There was a time Memorial Day occurred on a fixed date, set aside to honor and remember those combatants who put their lives on the line to defend their loved ones and their country, whether they died in battle or survived the wars they were called upon to fight.

Then, in a spasm of convenience, the powers that be decided to vary the date and create a long weekend, devoted to holiday sales and tourism as well as to remembrance. And so those we first intended purely to honor and mourn became servants of commerce.

It would have been better to leave Memorial Day’s original intent alone. In 2026, wars begin on executive impulse, without any pretense of prior deliberation on their lawfulness or purpose, or any reflection on what war costs. How quaint such thoughtfulness appears today.

Instead of our current distorted practice, it would be far better to remember all those so sacrificed and laid waste.

Along with the combatants, remember their families. Consider the innocents on all sides who are made homeless or stateless. Consider those on whom the bombs fall, buried alive in the rubble. Consider the scarred, maimed and amputated children. Consider those who have been killed, sickened or crippled by our generations-long love affair with nuclear weapons, by misused firearms as the violence of war abroad spills over at home. Consider the landscapes and civilizations so poisoned and destroyed. Remember them all.

John Raby
Scarborough