Memorial Day Quotes

Every year, the last Monday of May commemorates those men and women of the United States of America fallen while serving their country. A long time ago Memorial Day was held in the memory of Union soldiers who died on the battlefields of the Civil War, later it was extended to those who gave their lives in World War I.

Memorial Day is a Federal Holiday. People usually take their time to visit cemeteries and memorials, remembering their lost relatives or honoring the cause for which so many people have given their lives. Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), an American association of war veterans who have served overseas take donations for poppies the days before Memorial Day, in the spirit of John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields:

    In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
    Scarce heard amid the guns below.

    We are the Dead. Short days ago
    We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
    In Flanders fields.

    Take up our quarrel with the foe:
    To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders fields.

Below you can find some quotes for Memorial Day:

“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” – Benjamin Disraeli, (British  Prime Minister and Novelist, 1804-1881)

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” – Billy Graham

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” Arthur Ashe

“Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.” Daniel Webster

“We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.” Albert Einstein

“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” Norman Schwarzkopf

“They are dead; but they live in each Patriot’s breast, and their names are engraven on honor’s bright crest.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow