Will You Be A Part Of Memorial Day This Year

What is Memorial Day about?

Memorial Day 2017: – Memorial Day is a government occasion in the United States for recollecting the general population who passed on while serving in the nation’s military. This Year Memorial Day Will Celebrated On 29 May. The occasion, which is presently watched each year on the last Monday of May, begun as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an association of Union veterans established in Decatur, Illinois, built up it as a period for the country to embellish the graves of the Union war dead with blooms.By the twentieth century, contending Union and Confederate occasion customs, celebrated on various days, had combined, and Memorial Day, in the long run, stretched out to respect all Americans who kicked the bucket while in the military administration. It denotes the begin of the informal summer get-away season, while Labor Day denote its end.For more visit: Memorial Day 2017Memorial Day is not to be mistaken for Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of recollecting the men and ladies who kicked the bucket while serving, while Veterans Day commends the administration of all U.S. military veterans.source: Current Festivals

What is there to do over Memorial Day weekend in the Bay Area?

This time of year there are multiple festivals, block parties, art openings, etc., every day in San Francisco, particularly on weekends.As Tracy Chao points out, this is Carnival weekend. I think this is the international holiday to celebrate the beginning of lent, but because that time of year has miserable weather in SF, we postpone that to Memorial Day weekend: festival Saturday and Sunday, parade on Sunday.This year, there is a Thai food event sponsored by at Fort Mason sponsored by Chang Beer, Chang Sensory Trails 2017Regular events include the Saturday Ferry Building farmer’s market, the roller disco, zumba class, and regularly scheduled concerts in Golden Gate Park, the epic Presidio Picnic (if I were to choose one “locals” thing to visit as a tourist that would be it), the free Yerba Buana festival concerts on Saturdays (this weekend, a jazz saxaphonist / bandleader).That’s just the start. On a typical weekend I check sf.funcheap.com, eventbrite.com, and my Facebook events feed, plus sometimes emails I have been getting and some arts organizations like sfjazz.com, and make a list. I rarely get more than 1/4 of a way through my list before the weekend is done. There is always more you can possibly do in SF than time to do it.

How should I spend Memorial Day in the Bay Area?

If you want to steep yourself in Bay Area military history, you can try visiting monuments like the USS San Francisco Memorial at Land’s End Park in San Francisco.There are a few dozen war memorial sites elsewhere around the Bay Area as well.

What are the best places to visit in the Bay Area over Memorial Day weekend on short notice?

I posted this on another question for what to do over the holiday weekend too. I suggest going to the 148th Scottish Highland Gathering & Games in Pleasanton either Saturday or Sunday. My fellow countrymen and women will be competing in traditional games including tossing the caber. There will be over 50 Pipe bands competing, Scottish dance competitions and tons of British foods. My father was the president of the British American Club (BAC) of Northern CA for more than 25 years. He took my brothers and me then my grandchildren to the gathering of the clans and games. This is the largest event of its type in north America. It isn't very expensive and there is no other place where you see these things and eat the food, including Bangers, mushy peas or Haggis! There is also Scotch Whiskey and plenty of British beer and soft drinks on site.Other folk and professional entertainers will be performing there too. Check the link: 148th Scottish Highland Gathering & GamesI only wish that my Dad and Mum could be here one more time for this experience.

How do veterans feel about Veterans' Day and Memorial Day?

Immediately after leaving the Army in 2009 I would say that both days held special meaning to me. I knew some people who were killed in OEF/OIF.As time went on, I cared less and less about these holidays.Memorial DayPeople are very quick to call “dying for your country” a noble death. We love to throw big parades and erect monuments in their “honor”. In reality, these deaths send a shock wave of pain and sadness through the families they impact.  Children grown up without their dads; wives bury their husbands; parents plan their child’s funeral. I see nothing to celebrate about that. Dying “for your country” is not something to celebrate, it destroys peoples lives. Do people really need a federal holiday to remind them to think about their loved ones that died in a war?Veterans DayI find it hard to be proud to be a veteran. In conversation I tend to avoid even mentioning that I was even in the Army. If the wars of the last 20 years the US wages were based on something moral or righteous, I could wear the title with some pride. The US wages wars based largely on political motivations. It’s difficult to be proud of the idea that I volunteered to do the bidding of a government that is far too willing to destroy other countries and its citizens for political gain.Those are my, probably very unpopular, 2 cents.