Series
Memorial Day 2026.
Ten-post daily series running May 16–25, 2026. Nine editorial entries plus a first-person capstone on Memorial Day itself.
Ten posts running daily from Friday, May 16 through Monday, May 25, 2026. Nine editorial entries plus a first-person capstone on Memorial Day itself. Different doors into the same room — for adult readers, for younger ones, for the people who haven't thought hard about the day, and for the people who have thought of nothing else.
Publishing alongside the first-person capstone on May 25: American War Dead — A State-By-State Memorial, a state-level memorial map of US military deaths across eleven American wars (Revolution → GWOT). Every cell carries a source; where the records do not exist, the map says so. The Civil War counts Union dead only — explained in the methodology card.
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01
Entry 1 of 5 · May 16, 2026
The Weight Beneath the Long Weekend: What Memorial Day Is Actually For
More than 1.3 million Americans have died in uniform. Memorial Day exists because the country decided it needed a calendar day for that fact. The cornerstone essay of a ten-post series running daily through Monday, May 25 — ten different ways into the same meaning, one for each room of readers the day still belongs to.
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02
Entry 2 of 5 · May 17, 2026
From Decoration Day to a Federal Holiday: How Memorial Day Was Made
The origin story most Americans were told is incomplete. Charleston’s freedmen in May 1865, General Logan’s 1868 order, more than two dozen towns claiming the day, and the long-weekend politics of 1968. The plural — and more honest — record. Day 2 of the ten-post Memorial Day 2026 series.
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Entry 3 of 5 · May 18, 2026
Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Armed Forces Day: A Plain-English Explainer
Three federal holidays, three different purposes, three dates. Why the country still confuses them — and why the language should follow the audience: the people honored on Memorial Day cannot hear the thank-you. Day 3 of the ten-post Memorial Day 2026 series.
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Entry 4 of 5 · May 19, 2026 · For younger readers
What Memorial Day Means: A Story for Younger Readers
A short post for younger readers about what the flags at a cemetery mean, and why a country sets aside a day for the people who do not come home. Written at a grade 4–6 reading level — children read straight when you write straight. Day 4 of the ten-post Memorial Day 2026 series.
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Entry 5 of 5 · May 20, 2026
The Poppy, the Wreath, the Empty Chair: Memorial Day’s Lasting Symbols
A red flower from a Belgian battlefield, a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a chair left empty at a table set for the missing. Three symbols, three origins, one shared function — making absence visible. Includes the full text of John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.” Day 5 of the ten-post Memorial Day 2026 series.
5 entries in this series · Back to all posts →