News Headline: “Memorial Day car sales expected to be big success.”
News Headline: “Get discounts on the go for your Memorial Day weekend.”
News Headline: “Memorial day services to honor the fallen.”
Wait. How did that last one get in there?

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From Poor QT’s Almanack:
On this day we mark Memorial Day, which, it was promised long ago, would always be May 30, a day when the flowers were thought to be most in bloom, a day to honor the soldiers and sailors who died for us.
Only now it is whatever the last Monday of the month happens to be so we can have three-day weekends, and shame on us.

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News Headline: “Wave the flag on Memorial Day.”
We should try to do this right, even on the wrong day.
If you display the flag:
+  The flag should not be used in advertisements.
+  The flag should not be draped on a car or podium.
+  The flag should not be displayed on clothing or any object that is designed to be discarded.
 + The flag should not touch anything beneath it, especially the ground.
+  The flag should not be saluted by anyone not in uniform–and that includes our presidents. Instead, place a hand over the heart.

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A Republic, If You Can Keep It:
Three out of four people you see on the street aren’t exactly sure what Memorial Day is about, according to a survey.

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Almost forgot:
+ The flag should have its union at the upper left if displayed vertically, but if it is displayed vertically from a staff, it should have its union at the peak of the staff, which could put it at the upper right.
+ If a flag is displayed vertically over a street, its union should be to the north or east.
+ If a flag is displayed vertically over a sidewalk, its union should be away from the building.
Hey. Did anyone say flag-waving should be easy?

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News Headline: “Five hamburger recipes for your Memorial Day cookout.”
Or you can try the E Pluribus Meatloaf.
From the Many, One Meatloaf.
QT created it after noticing a different special ingredient in each of seven different meatloaf recipes–fresh garlic, chives, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, Parmesan cheese, pickle juice, mayonnaise–and wondering what it would be like to put all seven ingredients in a single meatloaf.

And it works:

3 pounds lean ground beef
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
salt to taste
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 onion (peeled and finely grated)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons pickle juice
1 handful of Parmesan cheese.
Mix, form into a loaf  and cover with still more ketchup.
Cook at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours, or until done.
Makes nine servings.
Calories per serving: 570

Works for the Fourth of July, too.
Which will fall on a Wednesday this year.
And on a Thursday the year after that.
How long do you think it will be before we make the Fourth of July the first Monday of the month?

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From the QT Archive of Knowledge:
+ The United States hasn’t fought a declared war in the past 67 years.
+ More than 100,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors have died in warfare in the past 67 years.

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News Headline: “Police fill jail cells for Memorial Day weekend.”
Everyone reflects in his or her own way.

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News Headline: “Americans worry for future of U.S.”
And aren’t you among them?
Times are hard–and may get harder.
And on days such as this, it is easy to wonder if our soldiers and sailors made their sacrifices just so the rest of us at home could make a mess of it.
Then again:
The headline above was published nearly a half century ago.
Headlines like that go all the way back, in fact.
Or as the late Louis L’Amour, writer of frontier novels, once told QT:
“We Americans love to view things with alarm. But if you look back, you see that life was always hard. It was never easy. And we got through it all, and we’ll get through this, too.”
A few words to remember as we remember on Memorial Day.

Write to QT at qt@wbez.org
QT appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.