Even in a typical year, Memorial Day in the U. S. can be a confusing mixture of joy and sadness — at once a hearty welcome to summertime, brimming with
Even in a typical year, Memorial Day in the U. S. can be a confusing mixture of joy and sadness — at once a hearty welcome to summertime, brimming with picnics and parties, and a somber remembrance of the service members who died in wars.
But this has been no typical year.
Into the holiday’s characteristic contrast of opposites the coronavirus pandemic has tossed a rather large wrench, which has only served to rend that divide wider. Even as some families flocked to the sand where beaches had opened, relieved to have an outlet after weeks under stay-at-home orders, many others stayed put or tried something new — including plenty of elderly veterans who would have made a trip to pay their respects to fallen friends, were it not for the virus.
“It’s something we’re upset about, but we understand,” Raymond Aalbue, chairman of the United Military Veterans of Kings County, told the Associated Press in New York City.
