Its teaching extends beyond mere commemoration of historical events to the sinews of American democracy. The Armed Forces are to be appreciated throughout May not just because they have put on the nation’s uniform while others have not and have sacrificed physically and mentally while wearing it. It is also because “preserv[ing] and foster[ing] the honor and respect that the United States Armed Forces deserve” is, in fact, the key to those military forces “preserv[ing] the freedoms and liberties that enrich the Nation” by their active supporting of the Constitution.

Commitment by “we, the people” to the principles of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence requires an awareness that is vibrant and alive, beyond lip-service sayings and theatrical displays. Citizenship, in other words, is an active rather than a passive verb. It requires a certain amount of prior intellectual knowledge, along with some learned civic behaviors or habits outwardly expressing that knowledge alongside one’s fellow citizens.

But there’s a third element rooted in emotion or passion, what we’ve called civic affection or attachment, but what traditionally was called love of country or patriotism. This is why the purpose of Military Appreciation Month is also “to inspire greater love of the United States” and “to instill in the youth of the United States the significance of the contributions” made by US military members and their families.

Several related holidays or days of commemoration throughout May exemplify these various aspects of what a true appreciation of the US Armed Forces ought to be. Since 1955, (though with origins stretching as far back as 1921), May 1 has been “Loyalty Day”—a day President Dwight D. Eisenhower set aside to highlight how America’s exceptional commitment to each individual’s inherent rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is ensured via its democratic form of government, in sharp contrast to communist regimes which denigrate or deny individual rights and freedoms. Rallies sponsored in part by Veterans of Foreign Wars helped to inspire Eisenhower’s designation of the holiday, marked every years since by a presidential declaration, however unnoticed that has gone by the public.

May 8 holds a historic importance — military and democratic — for audiences beyond American shores: This is “Victory in Europe” or VE Day, marking the end of fighting on the European front in 1945, marking the beginning of the end of WWII. This year marks the 81st anniversary of that day, marked then by President Truman as “a solemn but glorious hour.” With words faintly reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln’s iconic admonition in the Gettysburg Address, Truman reminded his audience that the work of “binding up the wounds of a suffering world” could only be accomplished by “ceaseless devotion to the responsibilities which lie ahead of us”; and that the responsibility of building “an abiding peace” lay in that peace being rooted “in law and justice”—and enforced by a strong US military.

Especially since America’s turn to an all-volunteer, and thus professional, miliary in 1973, military spouses and families have exploded in number and become an inherent consideration of military recruitment, retention, and readiness. The Friday before Mother’s Day, this year also May 8, was Military Spouse Appreciation Day. It was President Ronald Reagan who set aside the day to honor the almost always hidden sacrifices and struggles of the military spouse, made in support of their military member’s mission and commitment to serve the nation.

In the aftermath of WWII and in the wake of the 1947 National Security Act, President Truman designated the third Saturday of May as Armed Forces Day. While Armed Forces Day more often than not gets lost in the shadows of Veterans Day and Memorial Day, it is in fact the more proper day to honor both the men and women currently serving, as well as those who have previously served, in the US military. The most straightforward way to remember the differences are to recall that Veterans Day (previously Armistice Day, marking the end of WWI) honors those who wore the cloth of our nation at war; Memorial Day honors those who died while wearing the cloth of our nation at war; Armed Forces Day honors all who serve and have served, whether active, reserve, or National Guard, and regardless of war.

Most famously of the May military-related commemorations and holiday is Memorial Day. With its origins in the Civil War, Memorial Day is the perpetual reminder that indeed freedom has never been free—that realizing it, and the high principles committed to in our Declaration of Independence, in practice, sometimes requires an almost unbearable national, not to mention personal and familial cost.

As we celebrate on this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of America, we are reminded that the Declaration birthed this new nation. But for that birth to evolve into a strong and steady life requires a conscious commitment, both knowledge and action. And hence the prescience, and the active civic lesson to us all, of preparing ourselves to celebrate July 4th by first engaging in the month of military appreciation that is May.

(Rebecca Burgess is a senior fellow with the Yorktown Institute and at Independent Women. She holds a Ph.D in politics from the University of Dallas and is an advisory board member at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello.)