You know what this is? This is the approximate number of members of the American military who have died in wars in which we have been involved, from the Revolutionary War forward. One Million, Two Hundred Thousand.

And today is Memorial Day, in theory the federal holiday on which we commemorate our war dead, and remember their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families. But we don’t really do that, do we?

I understand that the holiday, or its predecessor, was first celebrated in the South, to commemorate the dead from the Confederate army and navy during the Civil War, and that it quickly spread to the North, and around the country. It was General John Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic, who is credited with creating the holiday, then called Declaration Day, in 1868. Today, no one thinks of John Logan except when strolling around Washington’s Logan Circle.

It was originally called Decoration Day because it was a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers. That was a way to remember, for sure. And even today, in military cemeteries such as Arlington’s, there are American flags placed in front of each tombstone. And the holiday was celebrated on May 30, whether that day was a Sunday, a Tuesday, or a Friday.

Everything changed in 1971, when the then recently passed federal law creating Monday holidays came into effect. Decoration Day officially became Memorial Day. May 30 was changed to the fourth Monday in May. And the holiday became another three day weekend, with trips to the beach, barbeques and the opening of public swimming pools in much of the country. The summer had unofficially begun.

Most American military deaths occurred during the earlier years of the country – the Revolutionary War, of course, and then the big one – the Civil War – where over 600,000 died. We got into World War I late, so fewer than 200,000 Americans met their deaths, but in World War II, where we fought four years, American deaths exceeded 400,000. Although over 50,000 died in Vietnam, and similar numbers in Korea, our wars since then, mechanized as they have become, have seen fewer and fewer American casualties.

Fewer war deaths is certainly a good thing. But it means something else. It means war deaths, and the memories of war deaths, have receded into the past. The percentage of families who experienced these tragedies during the Civil War and during World War II were enormous. The last Civil War veteran (I remember he was an underage drummer boy) died, I think, in the 1950s. World War II ended in 1945 – almost 80 years ago, which means that the youngest living World War II veterans are now 97 or 98, and the children of those killed in the war are all now in their 80s. Memories certainly recede.

But shouldn’t we do more to remember those who gave up their lives, some necessarily perhaps, and some accidentally or without necessity in the defense of their country. And shouldn’t we look at not only the deaths of those who fought in the wars, but those who are considered collateral damage – civilians caught in the fight. Of course, since the Civil War, we have not had battles on the home ground, they have been abroad. But we have participated in wars that resulted in deaths in Southeast Asia, in Iraq, in Korea, and in so many more places. We should remember those who died at our hands in those wars, too.

Perhaps moving the holiday to Monday to create a three day weekend was just the thing not to do. The Fourth of July would have been a better holiday to move, wouldn’t it have? After all, it is a holiday of celebration. Maybe we should have left Memorial Day as it was, maybe it should have remained as Decoration Day, and maybe our activities should be less celebratory and focus more on memory.