It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) American jurist, Supreme Court Justice

“In Our Youth Our Hearts Were Touched With Fire,” Memorial Day address, Keene, New Hampshire (30 May 1884)
    (Source)

Speaking of what the Independence Day (Fourth of July) has become in the US, separated by time from the initial cause it celebrated.

See Harding and Kennedy.