More Americans than ever view Memorial Day as one of the nation’s most important holidays, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released on Monday.
The poll showed that 49 percent view the holiday in that way, an increase from 44 percent last year and bettering the previous recorded high of 46 percent in 2007 when the war in Iraq was at its height.
Only 4 percent said the holiday was one of the nation’s least important, with 45 percent seeing its significance as somewhere in between.
Other results from the survey showed:
- Despite the highest recorded percentage for viewing Memorial Day as important, it still trails far behind both Christmas and Independence Day, which more than 60 percent of Americans consider as one of the nation’s most important holidays.
- Forty-seven percent of Americans say they have a close friend or relative who has given their life while serving in the U.S. military.
- Those over 65 years old are significantly more likely to consider Memorial Day as one of the most important holidays, with 58 percent saying that, compared to only 46 percent of those under 40 years old who view it that way.
- However, perhaps as a sign that the significance of the holiday is lost on many Americans, 62 percent associate the holiday as the unofficial start of summer, with more than half attending a cookout.
The survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted on May 25 and 28. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.