Memorial Day is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May. The holiday serves as the unofficial beginning of summer, but more importantly, Memorial Day is a day to honor and mourn deceased service men and women, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Memorial Day was established in 1868 to commemorate soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil War, and was granted status as a federal holiday in 1971.
English teacher Mawee Aguon is a veteran who served as a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army for four years.
“I did the ROTC [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] program at the University of Guam, which is a four-year program,” Aguon said. “Then I went into active duty, and I’ve been to so many places: Oklahoma, Texas, Fort Benning, Fort Lewis, Indonesia, Korea. I got injured, though, and then had to get out for a medical disability.”
History teacher Damin Bauer is also a veteran who served in the Army Reserve for 10 years and was deployed for one and a half years abroad.
“I got deployed to Iraq,” Bauer said. “I went there during the invasion, so we were moving around a lot. While I was there, we built a temporary floating pontoon bridge over the Tigris [River].”
Having been a part of the U.S. Army, Memorial Day is a very important day to Bauer.
“It’s a day of reflection for all the people who were willing to do what I did, but then gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives,” Bauer said.
Aguon has similar views to Bauer about the importance of Memorial Day, and also emphasizes that serving in the Army helped her gain more appreciation for the holiday and the people who lost their lives.
“I don’t think I’ve ever truly appreciated Memorial Day until I served, because I didn’t really understand the sacrifices that people made in the military in order to serve their country,” Aguon said.
Aguon also emphasizes that Memorial Day is not a celebratory day like Veterans Day, but rather a day of remembrance and reflection.
“I feel a lot more solemn about it [Memorial Day],” Aguon said. “I feel some type of way when people say ‘Happy Memorial Day,’ because it’s not necessarily a happy holiday.”
Bauer also stresses that there are many ways the UPrep community can honor those who sacrificed their lives for our country.
“I’ve always thought that we should do a moment of silence either before or after Memorial Day in school, just because I know there are other people whose lives have been impacted here as well,” Bauer said.
Bauer also emphasizes that community service is a great way to remember and reflect during Memorial Day.
“I think it’s valuable and is a way to give back to the community, just like these soldiers did, who are no longer with us,” Bauer said.
Aguon also says that educating yourself and others about Memorial Day is a great way to honor those who served.
“It’s a holiday that often gets overlooked, similar to Veterans Day,” Aguon said. “And I think that the pure act of talking about it and educating yourself is the best way for people to pay respect to the holiday. If they know it, then they can sit with that information a little more intentionally, rather than just being like, have a good three-day weekend, and then going on their merry way.”
