Memorial day is a day to honor our fallen heroes in the wars we have fought over the years. Let us discuss some ways to make Memorial Day meaningful for an older veteran.
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This day of remembrance offers people or caregivers a unique opportunity to unite with veterans who served in the military. Every year the country honors those who have sacrificed in the nation’s wars on the last Monday in May as Memorial Day. However, it is originally known as Decoration Day.
If you are a caregiver to a senior or veteran, you can use this holiday as an opportunity to celebrate and connect deeply to your loved one. You will need to use some particular approach to veterans with chronic disease to make this day more meaningful.
History of Memorial Day
The whole country celebrates Memorial Day on the last Monday of May, and decoration Day was first recognized as a Federal holiday in 1971.
People celebrate many holidays in America, but Memorial Day has a longer history than others. People start celebrating this holiday to remember the fallen soldiers who fought in the Civil War in the US.
However, people use different methods and ways to celebrate this day; some decorate the graves and hold remembrance celebrations for the people who die for the country.
General John A. Logan was the person who declared it as Decoration Day and set the official date, May 30th in 1868.
In the beginning, different communities honored only soldiers who had fallen during the civil war. Still, the holiday evolved after some time, including all American military soldiers, and people started celebrating other fallen heroes during every battle.
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How Do You Honor a Veteran on Memorial Day?
Visit your local veterans memorial.
Many people visit the cemetery to honor the fallen; you can also visit your local Veteran Memorial to honor the great soldiers who lost their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice for the country’s people.
You can bring the seniors in your care to the grave of fallen heroes. It helps veterans remember their glory days and offers an opportunity to respect all fallen heroes. You can also invite the family of veterans to the Veteran Memorial.
Place flags and wreaths and flags on graves of fallen veterans
You can go to the invited memorial funeral of the fallen and show your gratitude to the families of the fallen. You should place a flag and wreath on their graves to honor them. You can also listen to the life story of fallen heroes from the members of their families.
Wear red, blue, and white
If you are a normal person or a caregiver giving care to a veteran, you should use this method to show your support and gratitude to fallen veterans. You can remember soldiers who served in the armed forces by wearing red, white, and blue to show your burning spirit toward them.
However, avoid wearing all their colors at once. You can get patriotic attire from many places or use other methods such as making t-shirts with these three colors.
Make patriotic arts and crafts.
You can also use creative ways to honor the fallen. You can ask veteran kids or grandkids to spend their afternoon with them and engage in different art activities with them. With this method, you can make new memories by creating fun crafts with kids along with honoring the fallen.
You can hold friendly competitions among kids, draw using colors, red, blue, and white, or create flag-theme decorations using beads or buttons.
Create a care package
Many people become delighted when they receive care packages. You can use this kind of way to honor the fallen by providing a care package to the current service members. You can create a care package by adding this item to your package, including:
- Toothpaste, toothbrush, and floss
- High-quality socks
- Baby wipes
- Foot powder
- Thank you card
- Lip balm
- Soap, body wash, shampoo, and face wash
- Sunscreen
- Deodorant
You can take help from many packages delivering organizations to send care packages to active service members.
Prepare Memorial Day recipes.
Food is always an amazing way to connect with others. You can use this delicious way to connect with older veterans. If you are a caregiver veteran who likes cooking, you can use Memorial Day recipes to spend some time together honoring the fallen. You can also use these recipes on picnics. Some of the Memorial Day recipes include:
- You can make picnic scalloped potatoes with veterans or families of service members of the armed forces.
- You can make summer salad, most veterans’ favorite.
- You can cook super summer burgers to celebrate heroism.
- You can make some drinks like soft lemonade to relieve summer heat.
- You can prepare black bean salsa and spicy grilled beef.
- You can also prepare some dessert-like lemon sugar cookies.
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Go on a Memorial Day picnic.
You can plan a perfect picnic on this warm weather holiday because people celebrate it during the month of summer. With the help of a patriotic picnic, you can deeply unite with veterans by sharing memories of soldiers who made the sacrifice to protect the country.
You can use memorial day recipes on this day to prepare snacks for a picnic. You can also grill some hamburgers and hot dogs and enjoy fresh watermelon slices to celebrate the heroism of soldiers.
Do You Say Anything to Veterans on Memorial Day?
You can follow the tradition of your community to honor the men who were buried in the cemeteries while fighting for the country. There are no proper words for people to describe the gratitude that they experience by having each day as precious gifts thanks to fallen soldiers.
You can remember the fallen and show appreciation and honor to their family members, including spouses, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends.
Wrap Up
You can use the following tips to efficiently infuse Memorial Day with meaning for the older veteran. Celebrate Memorial Day with veterans in your local area, especially those who isolate themself.
Veterans with memory problems do not remember about their past, but they may tell you the story of their military service period. You should use the appropriate approach to celebrate this holiday with the veterans.
