Memorial Day
By Kathleen Whalin
Children’s Librarian
In the Midwest, where I come from, Memorial Day is still known as Decoration Day. It's a day to visit local cemeteries, put flowers on the graves of relatives, and tell family stories about previous generations. Maybe because the day has always coincided with one of the loveliest times of the year, I've never found the holiday sad, closely tied as it is to loss and death. Instead, I see it as a time to honor and remember people who have touched our lives.
Memorial Day dates from the end of our Civil War, although people certainly were honoring the graves of soldiers and others long before Memorial Day was officially proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, on May 5, 1868.
Regardless of our political convictions and views on war, Memorial Day deserves to be observed. Visit a lovely cemetery, share a picnic with family and friends and, if you want to spend a little time in the footsteps of those who've gone before, you might read one of the many good books set in the heat of war.
Some suggested titles: "Battle Cry" by Leon Uris, men from very different backgrounds enlist in the Marines at the beginning of World War II and are forged into a unit by their determined sergeant; "Code Talker" by Joseph Bruchac (Young Adult), Ned Begay joins the Marines at age 18, determined to do his bit to help win World War II. He finds the Pacific Theater far different from his dreams of easy glory; "From Here to Eternity" by James Jones, Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941, a place and time that will change the lives of soldiers stationed there; "Hornet Flight" by Ken Follett, something is allowing the Germans to blow British aircraft out of the sky at will. British and Danish intelligence rush to discover what it is; "Keeper's Son" by Homer Hickam, Josh Thurlow and his motley crew face German submarines off the North Carolina coast during World War II; "Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara, Shaara's recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg won a Pulitzer Prize; "The Little Ships" by Louise Borden (grade 2 and up), a girl and her father cross the English Channel in their own little boat to help rescue more than 500,000 French and English soldiers trapped on Dunkirk's beaches; "Pardonable Lies" by Jacqueline Winspear, Winspear's detective, Maisie Dobbs, served as a nurse during World War I. Maisie is hired to revisit scenes of her past life to find what happened to a pair of soldiers whose fates are unknown; "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane, if you haven't read this novel since high school, it's well worth revisiting for its clear depiction of a young soldier's first battle; "Unto this Hour" by Tom Wicker, Wicker introduces readers to the cast of characters that participated in Bull Run, a Civil War battle both sides thought would be a picnic.
