Memorial Day 2020
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=12351
By Dennis R. Pierce
BLET National President
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 22 - Each year, on Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the men and women who have given their lives serving in our military and we honor them for defending our country and our way of life. It is a sacred day to commemorate our fallen military heroes and to reflect on their sacrifices as they died defending our country, helping to ensure peace at home and around the globe.
Our nation has done so each year since the holiday was first recognized in 1868, and was then called Decoration Day. Its history began a few years prior, as Americans in the early 1860s decorated the graves of their loved ones who had died serving in our nation's armed forces.
For more than 150 years, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has seen many of our union members go off to war and not come home. We are proud that our Brotherhood is the oldest labor union in the United States, and we honor the members we have lost since our founding on May 8, 1863. We are humbled by their sacrifice and wish those affected by their loss comfort and peace.
In 2000, Congress established the National Moment of Remembrance. Each year, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Memorial Day, all Americans around the world are asked to pause and remember those who have died in military service to this nation. I ask all active and retired members of the BLET and the BLET Auxiliary to join me in this act of unity and pause for a moment of silence at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, May 25, 2020.
On this holiday, I also ask all BLET members and their families to join me in remembering what this day is all about. On Monday and every day, celebrate the freedom that we enjoy in this country and remember those brave men and women who have died serving our nation. These men and women fought and died defending and spreading the freedom that we hold dear. They deserve to be remembered and memorialized all year, but especially on the day that has been set aside for this purpose - Memorial Day.