The Forgotten Meaning of Memorial Day As the last Monday in May approaches, long weekends, travel, and deep discounts on everyday items dominate American attention.
But beneath this façade lies a more somber reality: the erosion of Memorial Day's original purpose. Iraq War veteran Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr.
believes that the day has lost its meaning in a sea of social media tributes, conflating the memories of fallen service members with those who have merely served.