3 Things You Can Do to Honor Your Fallen Soldier on Memorial Day
Memorial Day is more than just the unofficial start of summer. It is a day to honor and pay respect to those who have died while serving our country in the armed forces. For many families and friends of fallen soldiers, Memorial Day weekend may be the only time each year they set aside to gather and commemorate their loved ones, but you can still honor your family member or friend in other ways throughout the year. Consider the following three ways that you can honor your fallen soldier so that they are never forgotten.
1. Tell Their Story
One of the best ways to honor your fallen soldier is to tell their story. If they served overseas, getting in touch with other veterans who served alongside them may be a good way for you and other family members to preserve their memory and learn more about what exactly happened during service.
One of the most common ways you can remember your loved one is by planting a tree in their honor. Whether you choose an apple tree, for example, because your soldier enjoyed eating apples or perhaps because you want their memory preserved as something that bears fruit over time, each individual act of remembrance is incredibly powerful. If you are looking for more ideas about how to honor the memory of a loved one, it may help if you think back on what they valued when they were alive. Were they into art or spirituality or nature or music? Personalizing a memorial just makes it that much more meaningful.
2. Start a Memorial Day Tradition in Their Honor
Honor your fallen soldier’s memory every year on Memorial Day by creating a tradition with your family and friends. You can take the time to reflect on your loved one and what he or she did for our country. You can visit their gravesite and leave flowers, you can visit the site where they had their ashes spread, or you can visit a favorite place that had special meaning to your lost loved one.
The most important thing is to remember that all veterans deserve recognition for what they do and doing something extra for them and their closet family and friends could be an important part of honoring their service. For example, you can send sympathy gifts or cards to their loved ones every year on Memorial Day to acknowledge and honor the sacrifices made by their fallen soldier.
Celebrating those who have died in our nation’s service is more than just saying thank you, it’s taking the time to honor their sacrifice. These little actions of acknowledgement will ensure that your soldier’s sacrifices will not be ignored or forgotten.
3. Make a Donation in Their Name
If you know a soldier who lost their life in combat, you can use their name as a tribute on any number of donation websites. Donating to a meaningful charity is a particularly heartwarming way to remember a lost loved one. While monetary donations are definitely appreciated during times of grief, you can also donate to charities that were important to your soldier. Donating blood in your soldier’s name is another great option for making a meaningful gesture in their honor. America’s Blood Centers offer discount cards and information on locations where you can donate blood in your community.
No matter what you decide to do this Memorial Day, any act of service or support to the family and friends of fallen soldiers will help keep their memory and legacy alive while bringing comfort to those left behind.
Do you have any Memorial Day traditions? How will you be honoring fallen soldiers this year?
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Joining these Fabulous Link Ups.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
20 Comments
Nancy
We had our memorial day on the 4th. The hole country is silence at 8pm for 2 minutes. Its impressive, its necessary. To pay our respect for the ones who fought for freedom.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh wow, Nancy, that is awesome that the whole country goes silent for 2 minutes of remembrance!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
So very nice and so very true. I so might be stealing this. Thanks for the tips.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Patrick! Feel free to steal what you need here!
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar Strauss-Benjamin
These are all beautiful thoughts!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Tamar! Have a wonderful day!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
These are all beautiful ways to honor fallen soldiers. I had a great-uncle who was shot down over Berlin. I think it was during the Air Lift when the Americans were dropping food supplies. The cemetery where my dad is buried always puts out small flags to be placed on your veteran’s grave. Unfortunately, we now live 2.5 hours away so one of my sisters or brother does it. I was always the one to care for the cemetery…it bothers me I’m not there to do it anymore.
http://marshainthemiddle.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, Marsha, thank you for sharing this with me. I am glad that your sisters and brother are taking care of the cemetery duties. I was never one for cemeteries at all. In fact, the only time I ver visited my father’s grave was when we buried my mother next to him. That was in 2006 and I have never gone back to where they are buried again. Their spirits have always been so strong around me that I never felt the need to go to the cemetery. Plus it is like 6 hours from me now!
xoxo
Shelbee
Kathrine Eldridge
What an important post! Honoring our fallen soldiers is imperative. Thanks for sharing these ideas. Love the idea of planting a tree!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Kathrine! It is so important so I try to post something every year around this time.
xoxo
Shelbee
Barb Hegreberg
These are wonderful ideas.
We have a wonderful Memorial Day Parade and Service at Union Cemetary (Crystal Lake, IL) complete with a 21-Gun Salute and the playing of Taps.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Barb! I love to hear about all of the wonderful ways that different communities celebrate and honor our fallen soldiers as well as our living veterans. I bet your local parade and service are so moving.
xoxo
Shelbee
Judy
Thanks for sharing three things we can do for fallen soldiers. My father is buried in a National Cemetary in Illinois. There is a beautiful ceremony there each year to honor the fallen. It is quite a moving ceremony.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Judy, thank you so much for sharing this comment. Military ceremonies of any sort make me so emotional.
xoxo
Shelbee
Laurie
Very nice ideas to honor someone who’s served and made sacrifices for us.
Thanks for sharing at the Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop!
Laurie
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Laurie! I appreciate that. Have a great weekend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Helen Fern
Thanks for sharing at My Big Fat Menopausal Life’s Share the Wealth party – hope you are having a fabulous week.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Helen! I hope you have a wonderful day!
xoxo
Shelbee
Barbara
Shelbee, I know I sent back a reply from my post, but I thought I’d share again how moved I was reading this post… Every year my cousin Bill posts something eloquent and usually talking about our hero soldiers. For Veterans’ Day, he writes about his father, then adds in all the family members and extended family he can think of to thank for their service. This includes my father, father-in-law, some cousins (his siblings), my brother and so on. I appreciate both of your thoughtfulness for always remembering those men and women who have fought for our freedoms; it is something which shouldn’t be forgotten…
Many hugs to you and Mr. On the Edge,
Barb <3
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Barb, thanks so much for this wonderful comment and for sharing the way your cousin Bill honors our veterans and fallen soldiers. Being a military wife for all those years definitely gave me a much greater appreciation for the sacrifices that our military men and women make. I am grateful everyday for my husband and all of the amazing military men and women I have met over the years as well as those I have never met and never will. They deserve all that we can do to honor them. I hope you have a lovely weekend, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee