Among likely general election voters, most agree that the United States is still worthy of troops who gave their lives defending America, according to a new poll from America’s New Majority Project.
The survey challenged 2,000 likely general election voters will the following question:
“Thinking about the upcoming observation of Memorial Day and the current state of the country, do you agree or disagree that the United States today is worthy of the sacrifice made by those members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives defending America?”
Overall, 64% agreed the U.S. is still worthy of the ultimate sacrifice made by American troops, while 28% disagreed.
Memorial Day, a holiday honoring the brave men and women who died defending the United States, originated in the 1860s when Americans began holding memorials and tributes for the soldiers lost in the Civil War.
In 1868, Northern Civil War veterans’ leader Gen. John A. Logan asked Americans to join together on May 30 and decorate the graves of soldiers who died in the war.
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First known as Decoration Day, it wasn’t until Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968 that the day officially became known as Memorial Day. A federal holiday, Congress determined it would be celebrated on the last Monday in May, establishing a three-day weekend for federal workers. The change became effective in 1971.
“On Monday, Americans will observe Memorial Day, a holiday to acknowledge the sacrifices made by those members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives defending our country. Measuring whether Americans believe their country is worthy of that sacrifice is one way of measuring the public’s patriotic sentiment and our sense of progress,” America’s New Majority Project said in a statement.
The survey, conducted by Mclaughlin & Associates with Gingrich360 for America’s New Majority Project, concluded that “American patriotism is still strong, but our sense of history and progress are interpreted differently by different groups of people.”
