Commentary>The Monitor's View
from the May 24, 2002 edition

A Special Memorial Day

Instead of just being a long holiday, this Memorial Day can be a solemn occasion for all Americans to remember not only the military personnel who lost their lives to preserve America and its freedoms – most recently in Afghanistan – but those ordinary citizens who lost their lives on Sept. 11.
E-mail this story
Write a letter to the Editor
Printer-friendly version

More Americans were killed on that day than any single day since the Civil War's Battle of Antietam.

And if last September's tragedy has taught Americans anything, it's that everyone must stand as a ready patriot. Many on Sept. 11 found themselves in just such roles, and many rose admirably to the occasion.

The wave of patriotism in the days following the attacks shows a collective and ongoing eagerness to honor those who fell for liberty's cause.

This Memorial Day can help set the right tone for commemorations on the coming Fourth of July and for many Sept. 11ths to come, not only for lost soldiers but for those who wore police badges, firefighter uniforms, and just plain street clothes on the first day of the war on terrorism.




Get Monitor stories by e-mail:
(Your e-mail address will be protected by csmonitor.com's tough privacy policy.)

Photos of the Day:
The best photos from Jan. 06, 2009

ELECTION '08 Patchwork Nation
The American voter beyond red and blue

FISHERIES Empty Oceans Series
The sea is no longer so vast.


Daily podcast

Monitor Reports

Discussions with Monitor reporters from around the world


Today

Pat Murphy

The view from the Arab world on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.




Today's print issue
Today's Issue of The Christian Science Monitor