AND THE AMERICANS WHOSE SACRIFICE BUILT THE NATION WE CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN
A Tribute to the Fallen and to the Enduring American Belief That Every Generation Has a Role to Play in Building a Stronger Country
IRVING, Texas — SER National joins communities across the United States and Puerto Rico in observing Memorial Day, a solemn national day of remembrance for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who gave their lives in service to the country.
“Memorial Day calls on all of us to pause and honor the Americans who gave their lives so that the rest of us could pursue ours,” said Ignacio Salazar, President and Chief Executive Officer of SER National. “The most meaningful way we can honor that sacrifice is by doing the work of building a stronger country by helping every American develop the talents they were given and by working together as one people toward a shared future,” he added.
Memorial Day dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan, then Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued General Order No. 11, designating May 30 as a national day to honor those who died in the Civil War. The first major observance that year took place at Arlington National Cemetery, where some 5,000 Americans gathered to decorate more than 20,000 soldiers’ graves. After the First World War, the observance was expanded to honor all American service members who had died in defense of the nation. In 1971, Congress formally established Memorial Day as a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May.
The freedoms preserved by their sacrifice are the same freedoms that allow Americans to learn, work, build businesses, raise families, and contribute their talents to the strength of the nation. That is the inheritance every generation receives, and the inheritance every generation is asked to steward.
This Memorial Day, SER National invites every American to take a moment of reflection — to visit a national cemetery, to attend a local ceremony, to place a flag, to read the name of a fallen service member aloud — and then to recommit to the work of strengthening the country they died for. The development of the individual’s talents, the dignity of work, and the power of Americans working together remain the surest tribute we can offer..