Yesterday (Mon 28) was Memorial Day in the US.

We have a similar event here in November (Sun 11th Nov). We have a public holiday on the following Monday.

In the US Memorial Day is widely celebrated with weekend ‘bargain’ sales, barbecues, beach trips, etc.

Whilst here we don’t seem to have the ‘bargain’ sales on our Monday public holiday there are plenty of events planned. Not one of these events has anything to do with ‘remembering’. Our remembrance is on the Sunday around a church cenotaph and wreathes of poppies.

It is noticeable the attendance by the public on the Sunday (on Grand Cayman it is held outside Elmslie Memorial Church) has grown less and less. The colour paraders outnumber them at least three to one.

Last year when it rained upon the ceremony it was hastily moved inside the church. However, when the ceremony finished, even though there was a Church Service immediately following, the church emptied, including the Governor and prominent politicians.

The reflection on those brave soldiers who died for us faded from memory more quickly than it took to organize and promote the ceremony.

The cash in by the stores in the US last Monday with the emphasis on the money they wanted to extract from the eager shoppers was nauseating.

Not one network news even ran the Memorial Day as the first item of their newscast. President Trump laying a wreath was demoted and included a message from him about the meeting with the North Korean leader maybe back on again.

How many of us actually stand for a minute on Memorial Day or Remembrance Day to reflect and honour the heroism of the soldiers who have died for us in the past, and all those who are currently serving for us?

In the US alone over one million soldiers have died in various wars.

To remember this costs us nothing and what is a minute to do this actually take from our precious lives?

And life is precious.

If we actually just think about it more, just maybe there will be fewer wars and less loss of life. The burden on us to remember all this would actually be less.

No.

We must ALWAYS remember.