Memorial Day 2026: May They Rest In Peace – David Stringer, Publisher

[Editor’s Note: The following column has been updated from the Publisher’s traditional Memorial Day message.]

Memorial Day is a day set aside in honor and solemn remembrance of our nation’s war dead. For Prescott this lovely time in May also marks the beginning of summer and our busy tourist season.   Summertime brings music and events on the Courthouse square, the Rodeo and 4^th of July parade, travel plans and family vacations, warm nights on the patio, and a multitude of good times. Summer visitors fill our hotels and restaurants, bring crowds to our downtown and generate a third of  Prescott’s sales tax revenue. We welcome their return. By all means, bring on the summer.

But the sober side of Memorial Day should not be forgotten. The one million war dead since our nation’s founding brings a measure of gravitas to this day that deserves reflection. As  Americans we like to think of ourselves as a free people—a beacon of human rights and dignity that sets an example for the world.  Memorial Day helps us remember that what America has accomplished in the history of nations has come at a great price in blood and sacrifice.

Sadly, as we prepare to commemorate the 250^th anniversary of our nation’s founding, it Is not at all clear that America remains the nation it once was. We still have many assets including the world’s biggest economy and strongest military. But many of our countrymen are struggling.  Financial insecurity and homelessness are everywhere. Millions of Americans struggle to find healthcare. Our once great cities are full of crime and decay. Our public schools are an embarrassment of overspending  and underperformance. Most of us can remember a better time when Americans had a common culture and sense of purpose.

We still have the world’s biggest military and spend more on national defense than all the other nations of the world combined. But the United States hasn’t won a military engagement since WWII. With the election of Donald Trump, for many of us the outlook brightened. Military recruitment went up. Lawlessness in our cities went down. We regained control of our borders. But with federal judges thwarting Trump’s effort to repatriate illegals and fake asylum seekers, it’s obvious that a lot of damage has been done and may be irreversible.

Our country’s decline invites a moment of sober thought–despite spending more of our national treasure on the most advanced military technology than any other nation or group of nations– we have lost every military engagement since 1945. Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, Syria and Afghanistan all ended in failure. Our latest proxy war in the Ukraine is leaving their country in ruins and created millions of refugees, with no end in sight. And now we are spending billions of dollars on an Iran War that is driving up prices at home and threatens to destabilize the world economy. What’s going on?  What happened to America? The war dead we honor on Memorial Day didn’t let us down. But political leaders at every level of government have let us down. We still have the vote. Why do we let the people we elect abuse our trust?

Prescott, with its large retiree population, is home to many veterans. Two of our historic cemeteries,  Prescott’s Citizen’s Cemetery and the National Veteran’s Cemetery, both founded in 1864, are the final resting place for over 3000 of our nation’s veterans, reaching back to the Indian Wars and the founding of Fort Whipple in the Arizona Territory. Both cemeteries will hold gravesite ceremonies open to the public on Memorial Day.

Photo: Prescott National Cemetery

Citizen’s Cemetery, 815 E. Sheldon Street, will hold ceremonies Monday, May 25^th, from 9AM to 10AM.  Free parking is available at the campus of Yavapai Community College with shuttle service to the nearby cemetery. The National Veteran’s Cemetery, 500  Highway 89 North, will hold a Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony from 11:00AM to noon. The ceremony will include a Presentation of the Colors by the Ernest A. Love American Legion Post 6 Honor Guard followed by taps by Post 6 bugler, Rick Surrell, and wreath laying by Gold Star family members. Desert Storm Veteran Patrick Kuykendall and former Prescott Mayor Phil Goode, will offer remarks.

Gravesite ceremonies honoring the valor and sacrifice of soldiers who died in war are deep in human history. Today’s Memorial Day traces its origins to the Civil War period when women of the South began wreath laying ceremonies on the graves of Confederate dead.

Following an upsurge in patriotism and nationalist sentiments, at least in the North, associated with the end of the Civil War, ceremonies commemorating the war dead spread throughout the country.

The Memorial Day we celebrate today was officially designated by the federal government in 1967. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968, moved the date from May 30^th to the last Monday in May. For many,  Memorial Day has become just another three-day weekend. The original purpose and solemnity of the day of remembrance has given way to recreation and holiday sales.

A visit to one of our country’s national cemeteries will quickly dispel any idea that Memorial Day is just another antiquated custom for veterans and aging patriots. The fresh graves from our country’s wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan are reminders that American soldiers are still being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.  Arlington National Cemetery and many other national cemeteries across the country continue to open new burial sites for our nation’s veterans. Those graves are proof, if any proof were needed, that freedom is not free. Our Constitutional Republic and democratic way of life are still being bought with the blood of our countrymen. Memorial Day is the day we have set apart to remember, honor, and to mourn those who have given their lives in battle so that our country can live in freedom.

Requiescant in pace.  May they rest in peace