This should be America's greatest national holiday

DEATH NOTICE -- Day, M. Born May 30, 1868, in Waterloo, NY. Died from neglect and a broken heart. Survived by mother freedom and millions of people who enjoy long weekends. In lieu of flowers, throw another brat on the grill.

The above obit for Memorial Day hasn't been written yet.

But it's coming because a day of remembrance lives only when people remember it.

So few seem to bother with Memorial Day that when it eventually dies, hardly anyone will even notice its passing.

What should be America's greatest national holiday -- a solemn memorial of those who sacrificed their last breath for us -- has become a casual day of overeating, overdrinking and lawn darts.

There was a time when the staple of every Memorial Day was a solemn parade. But now, from sea to shining sea, the parades are evaporating … dying off with the 1,500 World War II veterans who go to their graves every day.

It is an abomination by attrition, despite the fact that more than 20 million veterans live in the U.S. today.

From Passaic, N.J., to Sheboygan, Wis., to suburban St. Charles and places in between, Memorial Day parades were canceled this year. Sheboygan resurrected its procession at the last minute when city leaders stepped in.

No such reprieve in St. Charles. There will be no parade today, for the first time in about 50 years, according to Mayor Donald P. DeWitte.

"There were several reasons why the local American Legion Post 342, who alternates with the local VFW chapter to organize each year's events, chose to cancel the parade portion of this year's events," DeWitte said.

"The marching bands from our two high schools were unable to commit due to graduations for each school being held the same weekend; our primary parade route detour through downtown, required by IDOT to close a state highway, is closed for a redevelopment project currently under construction, creating an alternative parade route not conducive to marchers' safety; and the diminishing numbers of veterans, primarily World War II era, who are no longer able, physically, to participate in the parade."

Previous commitments. Bad roads. Not enough participants. If the U.S. military had given up on D-Day for those reasons, we'd all be speaking German today.

When the service organizations canceled St. Charles' parade, city officials said there wasn't enough time to put one together on their own. They are still planning ceremonies today and say they hope to resurrect the parade next year.

The decline of Memorial Day can be traced to 1971 when Congress transformed it into the first summertime three-day weekend.

In 2000, Congress tried to bring back some of the honor by passing the "National Moment of Remembrance." Under that resolution, at 3 p.m. today, Americans are supposed to "voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to taps."

My guess is that at 3 p.m. today the only pause most people will take is to run to the cooler.

If you do nothing else today, read the words to this song by country balladeer Trace Adkins. It's written from the point-of-view of a soldier killed in action who is about to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

"I never thought that this is where I'd settle down

I thought I'd die an old man back in my hometown

They gave me this plot of land, me and some other men, for a job well done

There's a big white house sits on a hill just up the road

The man inside he cried the day they brought me home

They folded up a flag and told my mom and dad

'We're proud of your son'

And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property

I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company

I'm thankful for the things I've done

I can rest in peace, I'm one of the chosen ones, I made it to Arlington

I remember that my daddy brought me here when I was eight

We searched all day to find out where my granddad lay

And when we finally found that cross

He said, 'Son this is what it cost to keep us free'

Now here I am a thousand stones away from him

He recognized me on the first day I came in

And it gave me a chill when he clicked his heels and saluted me

And every time I hear 21 guns

I know they brought another hero home to us

We're thankful for the things we've done

We can rest in peace, 'cause we were the chosen ones

We made it to Arlington.

Dust to dust

Don't cry for us, we made it to Arlington."