Peter Collier has a very good article over at OpinionJournal on the stories behind Memorial Day. I don’t have his book on Medal of Honor awardees; I have this one.
I haven’t finished it yet. It’s the sort of thing I can only read a little at a time. I just find it a little too intense to read more than a few stories at a time. I remember getting choked up when I’d read the citations on the dioramas around the periphery of Memorial Hall, portraying the actions for which several Medals of Honor were awarded. As I’ve told people before, I’m just a sucker for stories of duty, honor, and sacrifice.